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Letters to Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. relating to his research on the life and temperance campaign of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Most of the letters refer to sources tracing Fr. Mathew’s ancestry. The correspondents include:
• Fr. E. Dowling, Cathabawn, Johnstown, County Kilkenny. Re Theobald Mathew’s early education in the Kilkenny Academy from 1803-7.
• Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Re a list of Fr. Mathew’s siblings.
• David Mathew. Re the ancestry and genealogy of Fr. Mathew.
• Rev. Wallace Clare. Re the genealogy of Fr. Mathew.
• Fr. Gervase Mathew OP, Blackfriars, Oxford. Re Fr. Mathew’s genealogy and the disposition of the Mathew family papers in their possession.
• Br. De Sales. Enclosing extracts relating to Fr. Mathew from the diary of W.J. O’Neill Daunt (1807-1894).
• Fr. Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap. Enclosing brief extracts from the General Capuchin Archives in Rome re Fr. Mathew.
• Fr. T.J. Walsh, South Presbytery Cork. Enclosing a note from Jack J. O’Shea re the poems of John Paul Dalton (a Cork-born poet) titled ‘The Centenary of Father Mathew’ and ‘A Legend of Father Mathew’.

Notes by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. on the life of Fr. Mathew and events connected with the temperance campaign. The file also includes some material relating to the general history of the Capuchins in Ireland. Includes:
• Note re the foundation of the Total Abstinence Association on Halston Street by Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC in c.1880. The note also refers to the foundation of The Father Mathew Record (1908), the Father Mathew Feis (1909), the opening of Father Mathew Park, Fairview, Dublin, by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC on 10 April 1910, and the establishment of the Young Irish Crusaders in 1909.
• Letter from the Public Record Office of Ireland to Fr. Nessan regarding a document (1840) in the Chief Secretary Office’s papers referring to an application from the Irish Temperance Union for the use of Smithfield Penitentiary. The letter reads ‘The application is based on the fact that the number of prisoners detained in the Richmond Bridewell was reduced from 313 in September 1839 to 191 in November 1840 “between these two periods the Temperance Reformation had greatly extended itself throughout the city”’. The letter is dated 15 Feb. 1955.
• Photostat copy from Fr. Thomas C. Butler OSA, The Augustinians in Cork, 1280-1985 (1986). The extracts refer to the presence of the Capuchin friars in Cork from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
• Photostat copy from Desmond Bowen, 'Paul Cardinal Cullen and the shaping of modern Irish Catholicism' (Dublin, 1983). The extracts refer to the relationship between Cardinal Cullen and the temperance campaigner.
• Notes by Fr. Nessan re places visited by Fr. Mathew in support of his temperance campaign in 1842.
• Letter from Michael O’Connell to Fr. Nessan re the preaching of Fr. Mathew at the dedication of Blackrock parish church in Dublin in Sept. 1845. The letter is dated 25 Jan. 1992.
• Note titled ‘The façade and spire of Holy Trinity Church, Cork’. The note provides a general history of the completion of work on the church for the centenary of Fr. Mathew’s birth and also refers to the blessing of the new bell in the church on 26 Apr. 1896. The note reads ‘Having “baptized” the Bell, the Bishop [of Cork] rounded it, being followed by the sponsors Mr Humphrey Donovan (the donor) and Miss H. Donovan, his sister’.
• Note by Fr. Nessan titled ‘O’Connell and Repeal, 1840-47’.
• Cutting from 'The Standard', Dec. 1949, surveying various Catholic churches in Dublin. The article includes photographic prints of St. Michan’s Church, Halston Street. The article also refers to nearby Newgate Prison on Green Street. It reads ‘In 1863 the prison was substantially demolished and converted into fruit market which gave way, in 1893, to St. Michan’s Park, where the statue of Erin stands, with the plaques of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and the Sheares brothers on the pedestal’. The article also refers to the Capuchin chapel on Church Street. It reads ‘In 1720, they [the Capuchins] moved to Church Street, where their chapel in 1749 “had an Altar-piece showing the Crucifixion; though formerly it was a painting of Our Saviour taken down from the Cross, which piece is much esteemed by connoisseurs”. The Capuchin Church, in Church Street, of 1720, was taken down in 1868, and the present church was erected on its site and completed in 1881’.

Notecards compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. on various aspects of Fr. Mathew’s life and his temperance campaign. Some of the note cards are given subject-headings including ‘Education’, Franciscanism’, ‘Poverty’, ‘Intemperance’, ‘appearance of Fr. Mathew’, and ‘Fr. Mathew’s ideas on capital punishment’.

Research compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. and used for his MA thesis on the life of Fr. Mathew. The topics include Fr. Mathew’s upbringing and education, and genealogical research. The file also includes a copybook containing sources illustrative of social conditions in Ireland at the time of Fr. Mathew’s temperance crusade.

• Cutting of an article by Fr. Nessan titled ‘Today is the Birthday of Fr. Mathew’, 'Evening Echo', 10 Oct. 1977. The article refers to the early life and education of Fr. Mathew.
• An article by Fr. Nessan titled ‘Early life of Fr. Mathew before the Temperance Campaign’. The article appears to be draft for the piece published in the 'Evening Echo' in Oct. 1977. Typescript, 3 pp.
• An article by Fr. Nessan titled ‘Pastoral work of Fr. Mathew in Cork, 1814-1838’. With a cutting of the article as it appeared in the 'Evening Echo', 10 Apr. 1970. The article was titled ‘Temperance successes outshone magnificent pastoral work of Fr. Theobald Mathew’. Typescript and cutting, 4 pp.
• Cutting of an article by Fr. Nessan titled ‘The Making of a Great Apostle’ published in 'The Father Mathew Record', Vol. 47, No. 10 (Oct. 1954), p. 6.
• Copy flier and poster from Cork City and County Archives titled The Sacred Cause of Temperance reporting speeches by Lord Morpeth, the Governor of New South Wales, and the Most Rev. Nicholas Wiseman referring to the work of Fr. Theobald Mathew. The poster is titled Important Letter from the Mayor of Limerick to the Rev. Theobald Mathew, 24 Sept. 1839. Copy print, 2 pp.
• A biographical article on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC written by Fr. Nessan for a publication titled 'International Capuchin Figures'. Typescript, 8 pp.

Three copybooks of Fr. Nessan containing extracts from Fr. Mathew’s correspondence principally relating to his organisation of the temperance campaign. The copybooks contain partial indexes to the contents. The topics covered include ‘political attitudes’, ‘pecuniary embarrassments’, ‘temperance medals’, ‘temperance bands’, ‘English temperance mission’, ‘Legislative aid for temperance’, and ‘Fr. Mathew’s attitude to the abolition of slavery’.

Copy letters of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. to John J. Sharkey, Catholic Total Abstinence Union, Boston, referring to the cause of Fr. Mathew. Fr. Stanislaus wrote ‘No efforts either privately or publicly have been made by any member of our Order to direct further interest in the intercession of Fr. Mathew, and yet the devotion to him is as abiding in the hearts of the people – especially in Cork – as it was the in the years that followed his death’.

This series includes material relating to the promotion of total abstinence by organisations which emerged in response to the late nineteenth century temperance revival. The files comprise material from both local and national organisations such as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) founded in 1893. The section also includes minute books, fliers, publications and ephemera created by Capuchin-founded local temperance societies such as the League of the Sacred Thirst (established by Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC in 1880) and the League of the Young Irish Crusaders (initiated by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC in 1909). Much of the publicity and commemorative material generated by these abstinent societies focused on Fr. Mathew’s legacy as a temperance pioneer and leader.

• 'Bishop Ireland on the Drink Curse'. A pamphlet by the Most Rev. John Ireland DD, Bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. [c.1900]. Printed, 20 pp.
• Souvenir of a temperance mission in St. Michael’s Parish, Limerick, conducted by the Capuchin Franciscan friars, 16-18 Sept. 1910. Printed, 4 pp.
• Letter from W.A. Johnson, Archbishop’s House, Westminster, conveying the instructions of Cardinal Henry Manning re the giving of the pledge. He adds ‘With the exception of the clergy who may hold the office of president, vice-president and honorary-treasurer of a Branch of the League of the Cross without being total abstainers, we require … that all other officers of the League shall be total abstainers’. 7 Dec. 1885. Manuscript, 2 pp.
• 'Give the Children a Chance!' (Dublin, [c.1910]). A pamphlet published by the United Committee for the prevention of the sale of drink to children. Printed, 24 pp.
• 'The Archbishop of Dublin on drunkenness'. Letter of the Most Rev. Edward McCabe, Archbishop of Dublin. The letter is addressed to Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC and refers to the work of the Total Abstinence Society associated with the temperance hall on Halston Street, Dublin. 22 Feb. 1882. Printed, 1 p.
• 'Temperance Rallying Song'. Printed by J. O’Keeffe, 3 Halston Street, Dublin. [c.1910]. Printed, 1 p.

'Ireland / A monthly magazine of Catholic and miscellaneous reading', Vol. 1, No. 6 (Feb. 1892). The front cover has an engraving of St. Patrick with the legend ‘Ireland Sober is Ireland Free’. The magazine contains a number of temperance-related articles including ‘A story of Father Mathew’s time’ by 'Comeragh' at pp 93-4.