The Temperance Movement
The first attempt at introducing a Temperance Movement in Ireland was made in New Ross, County Wexford. Rev. George Whitmore Carr returned from America with the idea and felt that a Temperance movement would benefit Ireland. However the public were confused by the society and Carr ended up the only member. A second attempt to launch a Temperance Movement began in Dublin by Quakers and supported by Methodists, but this too was short-lived. It wasn’t until 1835 that Temperance began to succeed; the Cork Total Abstinence Society, founded by a Quaker named William Martin, and initially had limited success. Martin appealed to the cities most prominent priest Fr. Theobold Mathew to join the crusade and on the 10th April 1838 with the historic words "Here goes in the name of God" Fr. Mathew took the following pledge.
‘…I promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks during my life and thus to discourage their use in others’
Temperance was used as a way to encourage individuals to abstain from alcohol consumption, since drunkenness was having a detrimental impact on families and society as a whole. But under the control of Fr. Mathew, who now was known as ‘The Apostle of Temperance’ the movement grew at a phenomenal rate, wherever he went he attracted large crowds all willing to take the pledge and buy their medals. It is estimated that by 1842 around five million had taken the pledge, however this figure also includes countless numbers that took the pledge on numerous occasions. The Catholic Church promoted idea of Temperance along with Repeal movement as a way of creating a New Ireland, even though Fr. Mathew insisted his movement was non-political.
Fr. Mathews Temperance Movement only lasted six years, but in that time revenue from the sale of spirits fell from £1,435,000 in 1838 to £832,000 in 1844. Fr. Mathew was not only trying to control drunkenness but stop the illicit production and the licensed production of whiskey, since he saw the pledge as a sacred vow. He controlled the Movement single-handedly refusing to let it become a National Movement, run from a central office. His doubters even accused him of mismanaging the Societies finances. Fr. Mathew’s Temperance Movement showed signs of decline in 1845 with rumours of financial scandal, but in truth a movement that had spread so quickly with minimal organisation was bound to fail. It was the outbreak of the Famine that finally brought the Movement to an end as Fr. Mathew devoted all his time and strength to helping the poor of Cork. During the six years of Fr. Mathews Temperance Movement, around one hundred legal distilleries were forced to close.
Even though the Temperance Movement was successful prior to the Famine, the Catholic Church, post Famine showed little enthusiasm to support another Temperance Crusade and Fr. Mathew spent the next three years in America. It is reasonable to assume that the population decrease during the Famine caused by both death and mass emigration had a detrimental impact on poitín making but the tradition survived although on a much smaller scale.
Protestant Temperance Societies grew in strength, and even managed to lobby for a Sunday Closing Bill, though this was supported by some leading Catholics, it was seen as a Protestant campaign. Sunday closing was introduced in the 1860’s, but it wasn’t until 1898 that the next Catholic led Temperance Movement emerged in Ireland, the ‘Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart’ (P.T.A.A.) was established in Dublin by Fr. James Cullen (1841–1921). Click here for more. This Association did not present itself as the same type of movement as the Temperance Movement, in so far as it was run in accordance with the very strict Jesuit guidelines. Fr. Cullen established ‘The Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart’ magazine in 1888 to promote total abstinence. ‘The Pioneer League’ as it became known went on to be the most successful campaign in Ireland since Fr. Mathew’s movement, and ironically today over ninety years after Fr. Cullen’s death his Pioneer League survives however. Fr. Mathews name, however is better known in Ireland even though his movement only lasted six years, Fr. T. Mathew is commemorated with statues in both Dublin and Cork and also with a bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin.
The first attempt at introducing a Temperance Movement in Ireland was made in New Ross, County Wexford. Rev. George Whitmore Carr returned from America with the idea and felt that a Temperance movement would benefit Ireland. However the public were confused by the society and Carr ended up the only member. A second attempt to launch a Temperance Movement began in Dublin by Quakers and supported by Methodists, but this too was short-lived. It wasn’t until 1835 that Temperance began to succeed; the Cork Total Abstinence Society, founded by a Quaker named William Martin, and initially had limited success. Martin appealed to the cities most prominent priest Fr. Theobold Mathew to join the crusade and on the 10th April 1838 with the historic words "Here goes in the name of God" Fr. Mathew took the following pledge.
‘…I promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks during my life and thus to discourage their use in others’
Temperance was used as a way to encourage individuals to abstain from alcohol consumption, since drunkenness was having a detrimental impact on families and society as a whole. But under the control of Fr. Mathew, who now was known as ‘The Apostle of Temperance’ the movement grew at a phenomenal rate, wherever he went he attracted large crowds all willing to take the pledge and buy their medals. It is estimated that by 1842 around five million had taken the pledge, however this figure also includes countless numbers that took the pledge on numerous occasions. The Catholic Church promoted idea of Temperance along with Repeal movement as a way of creating a New Ireland, even though Fr. Mathew insisted his movement was non-political.
Fr. Mathews Temperance Movement only lasted six years, but in that time revenue from the sale of spirits fell from £1,435,000 in 1838 to £832,000 in 1844. Fr. Mathew was not only trying to control drunkenness but stop the illicit production and the licensed production of whiskey, since he saw the pledge as a sacred vow. He controlled the Movement single-handedly refusing to let it become a National Movement, run from a central office. His doubters even accused him of mismanaging the Societies finances. Fr. Mathew’s Temperance Movement showed signs of decline in 1845 with rumours of financial scandal, but in truth a movement that had spread so quickly with minimal organisation was bound to fail. It was the outbreak of the Famine that finally brought the Movement to an end as Fr. Mathew devoted all his time and strength to helping the poor of Cork. During the six years of Fr. Mathews Temperance Movement, around one hundred legal distilleries were forced to close.
Even though the Temperance Movement was successful prior to the Famine, the Catholic Church, post Famine showed little enthusiasm to support another Temperance Crusade and Fr. Mathew spent the next three years in America. It is reasonable to assume that the population decrease during the Famine caused by both death and mass emigration had a detrimental impact on poitín making but the tradition survived although on a much smaller scale.
Protestant Temperance Societies grew in strength, and even managed to lobby for a Sunday Closing Bill, though this was supported by some leading Catholics, it was seen as a Protestant campaign. Sunday closing was introduced in the 1860’s, but it wasn’t until 1898 that the next Catholic led Temperance Movement emerged in Ireland, the ‘Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart’ (P.T.A.A.) was established in Dublin by Fr. James Cullen (1841–1921). Click here for more. This Association did not present itself as the same type of movement as the Temperance Movement, in so far as it was run in accordance with the very strict Jesuit guidelines. Fr. Cullen established ‘The Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart’ magazine in 1888 to promote total abstinence. ‘The Pioneer League’ as it became known went on to be the most successful campaign in Ireland since Fr. Mathew’s movement, and ironically today over ninety years after Fr. Cullen’s death his Pioneer League survives however. Fr. Mathews name, however is better known in Ireland even though his movement only lasted six years, Fr. T. Mathew is commemorated with statues in both Dublin and Cork and also with a bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin.
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