An original certificate of enrollment of Robert Cosgrove in St. Paul’s Temperance Society, Dublin, dated 5 Apr. 1840. With a letter from Ellen Weedon to Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. affirming that the pledge card belonged to her grandfather. The letter is dated 18 Apr. 1927.
An original total abstinence pledge card of Charles Doherty dated 7 Nov. 1847. The card is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. With a cover letter (1 Aug. 2001) from Liam O’Connell referring to this item. The letter notes that his ancestor (Charles Doherty) took the pledge in St. Peter’s Pro-Cathedral in Belfast. He also encloses an advertisement from Cantrell & Cochrane, Mineral and Aerated Water Manufacturer, referring to the Apostle of Temperance [c.1900].
The sub-series contains an important collection of original temperance society medals. Most of the medals in the collection are associated with Fr. Mathew’s campaign but some relate to temperance activities before and after him. The Cork Total Abstinence Society’s medals were important because they served as important reminders of the pledge, and also as miniature temperance catechisms for the many illiterates who took the pledge. Fr. Mathew’s medals were large and inscribed with familiar religious symbolism. Most were of pewter, although some silver and gold medals were also available for particularly distinguished members. Generally, one side had the words of the pledge within a shining cross, together with Fr. Mathew’s name and the Society’s founding date (10 April 1838). The reverse depicted a well-dressed man, carrying a banner, ‘prosperity’, and a woman, ‘domestic comfort’, stood next to a lamb, surmounted by a cross and an angel. This scene was overlaid by the Latin phrase, In hoc signo vinces (‘by this sign shall you conquer’).
List compiled by Fr. P. MacNamara of members of the temperance society in the parish of Clonmacnoise, King’s County (416 adults and 188 under the age of 21). Includes a separate listing of individuals (with addresses) of those who have taken the pledge. With a cover letter (28 Nov. 1911) to Fr. Benedict Phelan OSFC
