Sir theobald mathew biography

Back to Profile.

Sir theobald mathew biography

Photos Works. Main Photo. Theobald Mathew. School period Add photo. Career Add photo. Achievements Add photo. Membership Add photo. The crowds soon became so great that the schoolhouse had to be abandoned and the Horse Bazaar, a building capable of holdingbecame the future meeting-place. Here, night after night, Father Mathew addressed crowded assemblies.

In three months he had enrolled 25, in Cork alone; in five months the number had increased toThe movement now assumed a new phase. Father Mathew decided to go forth and preach his crusade throughout the land. Thousands came in from the adjoining counties and from Connaught. In four days he gave the pledge toIn the same month he went to Waterford, where in three days he enrolled 80, In March,he enrolled 70, in Dublin.

In Maynooth College he reaped a great harvest, winning over 8 professors and students, whilst in Maynooth itself, and the neighbourhood, he gained 36, adherents. In January,he went to Kells, and in two days and a half enrolledThus in a few years he travelled through the whole of Ireland, and in February,was able to write to a friend in America: "I have sir theobald mathew biography, with the Divine Assistance, hoisted the banner of Temperance in almost every parish in Ireland".

He did not confine himself to the preaching of temperance alone. He spoke of the other virtues also, denounced crime of every kind, and secret societies of every description. Crime diminished as his movement spread, and neither crime nor secret societies ever flourished where total abstinence had taken root. He was of an eminently practical, as well as of a spiritual turn of mind.

Thackeray, who met him in Cork in wrote of him thus: "Avoiding all political questions, no man seems more eager than he for the practical improvement of this country. Leases and rents, farming improvements, reading societies, music societies -- he was full of these, and of his schemes of temperance above all. On 13 August,he reached Glasgow, where many thousands joined the movement.

In July,he arrived in England and opened his memorable campaign in Liverpool. After continued urging, he became head of the Cork Total Abstinence Society. Within a short time he enrolled thousands of members. Although it was a time of political unrest, Mathew kept his mission nonpolitical and won support even of non-Catholics. He sought no honors and always tried to correct the popular notion that he had miraculous power.

His remarkable preaching drew hundreds of thousands throughout Ireland. In to he went to Scotland and England, giving the pledge to more thanIn springafter the famine years, his untiring zeal nearly six million had joined the society took its toll: he had a stroke. Recovering somewhat, Mathew came to America in Despite ill health, he visited 25 states and gave the pledge toIn December he returned to Cork, broken in health and saddened by the failure of many to keep the pledge.

His continued patience in the face of suffering and disappointment manifested his personal sanctity. Although his apostolate failed, it became the inspiration of later and more successful movements. Bibliography: j. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 9, Retrieved January 09, from Encyclopedia.

Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.