Minute book of the Committee of the Total Abstinence Sodality, Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The volume includes various newspaper clippings reporting the laying of the foundation stone (2 Feb. 1890) and the opening of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street (25 Jan. 1891). The volume includes clippings from the 'Catholic Times', the 'Freeman’s Journal' and the 'Daily Sketch'. The volume also includes manuscript and newspaper clipping reports of weekly public meetings of the sodality in the Hall. The minutes report resolutions in respect of financial accounts, general administration and the ministering of the pledge to members. The meetings were ordinarily chaired by Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC, President of the Sacred Thirst Abstinence League. The final pages of the volume contain newspaper clippings reporting on the death of Fr. Columbus on 10 Sept. 1894. The clippings also cover his funeral and the various tributes paid to him for his work in promoting temperance.
Flier from the Halston Street Total Abstinence Society seeking subscriptions to fund the building of a new Hall on a site ‘secured at the junction of Church Street and Bedford Street’. The flier notes that ‘until now the work [of the Sodality] has been done in a wretchedly small hall which is no longer available for the perpetuation and increase of this great social reform’. The flier also provides a list of subscriptions for the fund.
Calendar for 1921 issued by the Father Mathew Total Abstinence Sodality, Church Street. The calendar provides information on subscribing to Father Mathew Hall (a temperance sodality for men) and to St. Brigid’s Hall (a temperance sodality for women).
Rules of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The rules note that the annual subscription is 6s. It is also stated that ‘members are expected to promote the general comfort of their fellow members and to cultivate all the social virtues in their relations with one another. Members ought not to have their hats on when using the rooms’.
Bound volume containing a register of members of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The listing is divided into male and female. The list includes entries relating to dues for subscription payments and membership fees. Later entries also supply addresses of registered members.
Blank contract form for the hiring of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The contract specifies the conditions under which the Hall Committee will permit the use of the Hall for performances. One of the conditions specifies that ‘under no circumstances whatsoever … [shall] any person be allowed to remain in the Hall who in the opinion of the committee … is under the influence of drink or in any way disorderly’.
Letter from John W. Moran, photographer, 14 Lower Gloucester Street, Dublin, to C. Hepworth, Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, asking for the ‘balance due for photo groups on or before the 5th Feb. as I am much pressed for cash at the present time’.
Photographic print of performers in a theatrical production in Father Mathew Hall. The image is credited to C. and L. Walsh, 55 Lower Mount Street, Dublin.
