The sub-series includes research chronicling the life and temperance crusade of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Much of the research focuses on narratives of Fr. Mathew’s campaign.
The sub-series contains research notes, correspondence and publications on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965). Fr. Stanislaus served as Provincial Archivist for the Capuchin Order in Ireland from 1919 to 1958. During this time, he worked assiduously to collect and record any events connected with the history of the Irish Capuchins. In the course of this research he assembled a good deal of material relating to Fr. Mathew and his championing of the temperance cause.
The sub-series contains research notes, correspondence and publications on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC compiled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953). Fr. Angelus was considered an authority on the history of the Irish Capuchins. The section includes transcripts, correspondence, published articles and research notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his temperance campaign.
The sub-series contains research notes, document transcriptions, correspondence and publications on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. (1915-1997). The Waterford-born Capuchin friar, Brother (later Father) Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. completed a thesis titled ‘The Life and Times of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ for an MA degree in University College Cork in 1939. He retained a life-long interest in the subject and accumulated a large number of documentary sources, publications and notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his campaign against intemperance.
This subseries contains research into the ancestry and family history of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Fr. Mathew was born in Thomastown Castle near Golden in County Tipperary in October 1790. His father James Mathew was steward on the Thomastown estate which belonged to his relative, Francis Mathew (1738-1806), who was created Earl Landaff in 1797. There is some uncertainty about the parentage of James Mathew. One account, repeated by Fr. Mathew himself, affirmed that he was the child of an undocumented second marriage of Lord Landaff’s great uncle, James Mathew of Borris. Another account, which enjoyed some currency at the time, suggested that he was the natural son of Earl Landaff’s father Thomas Mathew. The files include research notes, genealogical tables and other information relating to Mathew family history.
The subseries includes research on St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. In February 1830 Fr. Mathew secured a lease of the Botanic Gardens which became the city’s first Catholic cemetery. A portion of the ground was also set aside for the free burial of the poor, whose bodies had previously been left outside their dwellings until sufficient money was collected for their internment.
The subseries contains material assembled with a view to undertaking a beatification process for Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The files include evidence and investigations into cures attributed to the intercession of prayers at Fr. Mathew’s grave in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork.
The sub-series contains a collection of original Total Abstinence Society pledge cards. Most of the cards are signed by the pledge-taker and by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The cards were decorated with various temperance symbols and vignettes. An illustration on one side of the cards depicted a scene warning of the dangers of intemperance – a man driven by alcohol to beat his wife. Another illustration showed a scene of temperance – a happy family reading together by the hearth. The cards are listed in chronological order.
