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A collection of Total Abstinence Society medals collected by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and other Capuchin friars. Most of the medals were sent to Fr. Angelus who duly recorded their provenance and source. The collection includes:
• Silver medal ‘presented to Fr. Angelus by Miss Gibson, Ballyglass, County Mayo. It belonged to her grandfather, who had taken the pledge from Fr. Mathew. He was a convert, but she is of the opinion he had taken the Pledge whilst he was a Protestant’.
• Silver cross of the Youghal Roman Catholic Total Abstinence Society founded by the Rev. John Foley on 1 May 1839. The obverse has the text of the pledge with the Latin phrase ‘In hoc signo vinces’. Two examples of the cross are extant. Fr. Angelus notes that one of the crosses was donated by Miss Gibson of County Mayo.
• Silver medal of the Total Abstinence Society of the Sacred Thirst. The medal has a red ribbon and pin attachment. With annotated envelope by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap.
• Silver medal of the Total Abstinence Society of Ireland. The medal is engraved on the rim ‘Presented to L.S. Gore Jones by The Rev. T. Mathew’. The medal was given to Fr. Angelus by Rev. Laurence Kelly CC, St. Michan’s Church, North Anne Street, Dublin.
• Pewter medal of the Dublin Total Abstinence League founded in 1872. The inscription on the obverse reads ‘For / Glory to God / for example to man / safety / I promise with the Divine / Assistance to abstain / from all intoxicating / drinks and to / discountenance / the / liquor traffic’. The front has a side-profile view of Fr. Mathew. Fr. Angelus notes that the maker was Woodhouse, Dublin.
• Pewter medal of the Total Abstinence Pledge. The front (face) shows the Good Shepherd. The outer-rim inscription reads ‘I have found the sheep that was lost Luke Chap. 15 v. 6’. The obverse: Cruciform text of pledge. The outer-rim inscription reads ‘The Dublin Total Abstinence Pledge The Very Revd. Dr. Spratt Patron 1840’. Fr. Angelus notes that the maker was J. Taylor.

Total Abstinence Society of Ireland Medal
c.1840-1850
Diameter: 4.5 cm
Pewter Medal in Glass
Physical Description:
• Face (front): In relief, Fr. Mathew addresses kneeling crowd. Outer rim inscription reads: ‘May God bless you and grant you grace and strength to keep your promise’.
Obverse: Cruciform formula of pledge: ‘I / Promise / by the / Help of / God/ to abstain from all / intoxicating drinks / except used medicinally / and to discountenance the / cause and practice / of / intemperance’. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘The Very Rev. T. Mathew, President / The Total Abstinence Society of Ireland’.
The medal has fragments of a green ribbon and pin attached.

Total Abstinence Society of Ireland Medal
c.1840-1850
Diameter: 4.5 cm
Pewter Medal in Glass
Physical Description:
• Face (front): In relief, Fr. Mathew addresses kneeling crowd. Outer rim inscription reads: ‘May God bless you and grant you grace and strength to keep your promise’.
Obverse: Cruciform formula of pledge: ‘I / Promise / by the / Help of / God/ to abstain from all / intoxicating drinks / except used medicinally / and to discountenance the / cause and practice / of / intemperance’. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘The Very Rev. T. Mathew, President / The Total Abstinence Society of Ireland’.
The medal has fragments of a green ribbon and pin attached.

Total Abstinence Society of Ireland Medals
c.1840-1850
Diameter: 4.3 cm
Thirteen Pewter Medals
Physical Description:
• Face (front): Centre: Man and woman on pedestal on which two children are seated. The adults carry a shield surmounted by a cross, with an angel (or in some cases two angels) above. The upper part of the shield has a lamb bearing a banner. The man bears a banner with the words ‘sobriety’. The woman bears a banner with the words ‘Domestic Comfort’. Outer-edge inscription reads: ‘Total Abstinence Society of Ireland’.
Obverse: Cruciform text of pledge: ‘I / Promise / by the / Help of / God/ to abstain from all / intoxicating drinks / except used medicinally / and to discountenance the / cause and practice / of / intemperance’. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘The Very Rev. Mathew, President, Total Abstinence Society’.
One of the medals was found in an envelope from John O’Neill, Musical Instrument Manufacturer, 140 Capel Street, Dublin. An annotation on the envelope reads ‘Fr. Mathew Temperance Medal / given to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. / by an old woman in Kells, County Meath’.

Father Mathew Temperance Medal
c.1840-1850
Diameter: 4.4 cm
Silver Medal
Physical description:
• Face (front): Fr. Mathew addresses the kneeling crowd. Outer rim inscription reads ‘May God bless you and grant you grace and strength to keep your promise.
Obverse: Outer edge inscription reads ‘Dedicated to the Very Rev. Theobald Mathew. Centre: ‘Whose / exertions / have laid the / foundation of his country’s happiness / and merited / the admiration / of mankind’.
A green and white ribbon in the form of a crucifix (with pin) is attached.

Total Abstinence Society Medal
c.1840-1850
Diameter: 4.4 cm
Silver Medal
Physical description:
• Face (front): Man and woman on pedestal on which two children are seated. The adults carry a shield surmounted by a cross, with an angel above. The upper part of the shield has a lamb bearing a banner. The man bears a banner with the words ‘sobriety’. The woman bears a banner with the words ‘Domestic Comfort’. Outer-edge inscription reads: ‘In hoc signo vinces’.
Obverse: Cruciform text of pledge. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘Total Abstinence Society, The Very Rev. T. Mathew, President’.
A green ribbon with pin is attached.

Total Abstinence Society Medal
1840
Diameter: 4.4 cm
Silver Medal in Glass
Physical description:
• Face (front): Man and woman on pedestal on which two children are seated. The adults carry a shield surmounted by a cross, with an angel above left of the cross. The upper part of the shield has a lamb bearing a banner. The man bears a banner with the words ‘sobriety’. The woman bears a banner with the words ‘Domestic Comfort’. Outer-edge inscription reads: ‘In hoc signo vinces’.
Obverse: Cruciform text of pledge encircled by title of society, president (Fr. Theobald Mathew), and the date of foundation (10 Apr. 1838).
A large green ribbon is attached with the following embroidered text ‘F ✙ M / 1840 / God Save Ireland’. The ribbon is partially torn. Very careful manual handling is required.

Medal of the Army Temperance Association, India
1862
Oval-shaped silver medal
4 cm x 3 cm
Physical Description:
• Medal of the Soldiers’ Total Abstinence Association in India. The inscription the face reads ‘Watch and be sober’. Inscription the obverse reads ‘The Association Medal for Fidelity India’.
Note: After 1902 the Victoria Memorial Medal was adopted and used by Indian Organisations of the Royal Army Temperance Association as a Two-Year Medal.

Temperance Medal Ribbon
1889
Physical Description:
• A green ribbon with silver crucifix attached bearing the inscription ‘Presented to the Very Rev. Fr. Columbus [Maher] OSFC / President / Feb. 1889’. The ribbon would have been originally attached to a temperance medal. Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC (1835-1894) was President of the Father Mathew Temperance Association attached to St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin.

Face (front): Centre: Man and woman on pedestal on which two children are seated. The adults carry a shield surmounted by a cross, with an angel above. The upper part of the shield has a lamb bearing a banner. The man bears a banner with the words ‘sobriety’. The woman bears a banner with the words ‘Domestic Comfort’. Outer-edge inscription reads: ‘In hoc signo vinces’.
Obverse: Cruciform text of pledge. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘Total Abstinence Society, The Very Rev. T. Mathew, President’. Inner rim inscription reads ‘Founded 10 April 1838’.

One of the medals is engraved on the rim with the inscription ‘P.P. Daly took the Total Abstinence Pledge May 20th 1840’. This medal was found in an envelope with a note by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. The note reads ‘This medal was in the hands of a jeweller in Cork, who had purchased it with the intention of smelting it. Fr. Angelus with permission of the Fr. Provincial bought it for £7 0s 0d the amount the jeweller had paid for it’. With two paper reproductions of the medals.

A pledge medal of the Dublin Total Abstinence Association dating to 1840. The front (face) shows the Good Shepherd. The outer-rim inscription reads ‘I have found the sheep that was lost Luke Chap. 15 v. 6’. The obverse has a cruciform text of the pledge and reads: ‘I have voluntarily promised in the presence of the Revd. Dr. Spratt to abstain from all spiritous liquors and intoxicating drinks except used medicinally and then by order of a medical man and the discountenance of all the vices and practices of intemperance and also to attend to my religious duties’. The outer-rim inscription reads ‘The Dublin Total Abstinence Pledge The Very Revd. Dr. Spratt Patron 1840’. The maker of the medal was J. Taylor.

Two metal dies used to strike Total Abstinence Pledge medals. The dies are large metallic pieces that were used to medal a coin, one per each side. The dies have an inverse version of the image to be struck on the medal. One side shows a profile-view of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The obverse has the cruciform text of pledge. The maker’s stamp on the dies reads ‘G. Cook, 21 Regent Row, Birmingham’.

Bl. Charles's "identikit" portrait as a young conscript

Portrait of Seraphin Pesce

Portrait of Seraphin Pesce

An original total abstinence pledge card of [Con] Boyle dated 23 May 1841. The certificate is signed by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC.