Mathew, Theobald (1790-1856), an Irish Roman Catholic priest, founded a temperance movement to encourage people to abstain completely from intoxicating liquor. His movement gained strength in Ireland, England, Scotland, and the United States. He organized many temperance clubs, temperance associations, and libraries. His activities greatly reduced alcoholic consumption in Ireland and were credited with a steep decline in the country’s crime rate. Mathew also worked to relieve the suffering of the Irish during the famine of the 1840’s.
Mathew was born on Oct. 10, 1790, in Thomastown, Tipperary. In 1814, he was ordained a priest of the Franciscan Order. He began his temperance movement in 1838, after having seen the ill effects of drinking on the people under his care. He died on Dec. 8, 1856.
