Stock No. 2919

Irish Father Mathew Temperance Seal

Very interesting Irish seal, circa 1855. The body of the seal is made of bois durci, a hardened form of wood, in the shape of the head and shoulders of Father Theobald Mathew, Irish priest and orator, known as the "Apostle of Temperance". The front and the back of the figure are made in two parts and joined together and the figure is dark brown with the exception of an applied piece of mother of pearl on the chest beneath the neck to indicate a clerical garment. On a plinth below is stamped "THE VERY REVD./ FATHER MATHEW". The base of the seal is made of brass in a hobnail pattern.

Condition :-Extremely good condition throughout. One old hair crack on the left hand side of the back of the figure caused by too much pressure having been applied to the seal
Circa :- 1855
Size :- 3.1 inches (7.9 cm) x 1.7 inches (4.3 cm) at widest point
Theobald Mathew was born on October 10, 1790 in Thomastown, County Tipperary, Ireland and died on December 8, 1856 at Cobh, County Cork. He was ordained in 1814 and entered the Capuchin order, of which he was made provincial in 1822. At the same time, the earliest European temperance organisations were forming in Ireland and Mathew joined the movement at Cork. He became President of the Total Abstinence Society of Ireland and between 1838 and 1842 he travelled throughout Ireland. People flocked to hear him and whole crowds took the temperance pledge. The number of abstainers in Ireland alone in 1841 was estimated to be 4,647,000 and in three years the consumption of spirits dropped by approximately 50 per cent, due greatly to Mathew's efforts. He went to England in 1843 and to the United States in 1849, where despite failing health he preached in 25 states. Incapacitated by illness, he returned to Ireland two years later where he remained relatively inactive for the remainder of his life.

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