MATHEW, THEOBALD. – Capuchin, social reformer, born in Ireland at Thomastown Castle (Cashel) on 10 October 1790, died at Queenstown on 8 December 1856. He entered the Capuchins in Dublin in 1808 and, after being ordained a priest (9 April 1814), made Cork the center of his activity as a missionary and social reformer.
There he established the first religious association after the persecution (Josephian Society), for the education of poor children and the care of the sick, and founded a flourishing vocational school for girls. He distinguished himself during the cholera epidemic in 1832, especially in the poorest and most severely afflicted districts. In 1838, at the request of W. Martin, a fervent Quaker who had founded a Temperance Society in Cork, without much success, M. placed himself at the head of that movement, which quickly spread widely. The Irish who pledged themselves to abstain from every alcoholic beverage numbered more than 5,000,000. M. won the support of Catholics and Protestants of every social class. In a year and a half (1843–44) he gathered more than 600,000 adherents in England. He achieved equal success in the United States, where he visited more than 300 cities and where the National Congress in Washington honored him as a guest of honor (18 December 1849). During the famine of 1845–47, M. became the organizer of the relief generously sent to Ireland from the United States. A persuasive and moving orator, M. contributed more than anyone else in his time to the moral and social awakening of the Irish people.
Glasgow 1873; J. St. Olivier, Le p. M., Bar-le Duc 1873; F. Thomas, Summarised life, Cork 1902; S. Maschek, P. T. M. Ein soziales Lebensbild, Solothurn 1927. Fredegando Callacy