File of newspaper clippings mainly re various anniversaries and commemorations connected with Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC and the temperance campaign. The file includes:
• ‘Dean Swift’s curious experiences of Irish hospitality at Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary’. 'Christmas Lady of the House', Dec. 1919.
• ‘The Apostle of Temperance / His Great Work in Different Countries / Interesting Sketch of His Life’, 'Clare Champion', 1 Dec. 1934.
• ‘Irish Exiles / Mr. T. Mathew / Famous Lawyer and Wit’, 'The People', 28 Mar. 1937. The article refers to Theobald Mathew, a grand-nephew of the Apostle of Temperance.
• ‘Historic Irish Mansions / No. 14: Thomastown House, County Tipperary / the birthplace of Father Mathew’, 'Weekly Irish Times', 8 Aug. 1936.
File of newspaper cuttings covering the centenary celebrations of the inauguration by Fr. Theobald Mathew of the temperance campaign in April 1838. The file includes cuttings from the 'Irish Independent', 'Tipperary Star', 'Saturday Herald', 'Nationalist', 'Irish Press', 'The Pilot', 'The Standard', 'The Cambridge Chronicle' (Massachusetts), 'The Universe', 'Seraphic Home Journal', 'The Derry Journal',' Cork Examiner', 'Kilkenny Journal', 'Catholic Times', and 'Evening Echo'.
• The articles refer to the re-naming of the Church Street (formerly Whitworth) Bridge as Father Mathew Bridge over the River Liffey, Dublin, in October 1938, to various ceremonies held to mark the anniversary (particularly in Dublin and Cork, and in Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary, Fr. Mathew’s birthplace), and to the Father Mathew Centenary stamp designed by Sean Keating RHA.
• The file also includes an article by Bridie Maguire, ‘Noted Irish Sculptress / Mary Redmond, who wrought the figure of Father Mathew in O’Connell Street’, 'Saturday Herald', 9 Apr. 1938.
• Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. delivering an address at the annual meeting of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in the Theatre Royal, Dublin. 'Irish Independent', 16 Nov. 1938.
Copy of a special supplement to the 'Cork Examiner' commemorating its 50,000th edition. The supplement includes a section titled ‘Remembering Father Mathew’ at p. 11.
An original total abstinence pledge card of Oliver Coogan dated 14 June 1840.
An original certificate of enrolment of Elinor Cosgrove in St. Paul’s Temperance Society, Dublin, dated 16 Aug. 1840.
An original total abstinence pledge card of [Con] Boyle dated 23 May 1841. The certificate is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC.
An original total abstinence pledge card of Master Patrick O’Connor dated 1 Aug. 1844. The card is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC, President of the Cork Total Abstinence Society.
An original total abstinence pledge card of Catherine Fitzgerald dated 20 Apr. 1847. The card is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC.
An original total abstinence pledge card of Denis Crowley dated 20 Mar. 1848. The certificate is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC.
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’).