Father Mathew And The Temperance Movement In Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Ireland was faced with a serious drinking problem in the 19th century, with cultural traditions and the harsh natural environment acting as important factors leading to alcoholism. A series of social problems caused by alcoholism which made the people of insight anxious, then the early temperance organization came into being. However, there are many defects in the early temperance organization, so that the mission of temperance could not be completed. In the call of the times, Father Matthew took the flag of temperance, leading the temperance movement across Ireland. Moreover, because Father Matthew was invited to visit Scotland, England and the United States, his temperance pledge is also widely accepted abroad Irish immigrants. Under the tireless efforts of Father Matthew, the temperance movement was a great success.This paper is divided into five parts. The introduction mainly accounts the main reasons and the significance for the choice of the topic and the present situation of the academic research in country and abroad.The first chapter mainly discusses the social background of the Irish temperance movement from two aspects, cultural tradition and the social mechanisms for the cause of alcoholism. Alcoholism brings a series of negative effects, especially in human health, family life and social order.The second chapter is written mainly from the religious perspective, and discusses the Protestants and Catholics’ efforts in temperance. Protestants firstly established a temperance organization with a certain scale, and achieved some results. But Protestants insisted on the principle of moderate temperance, combined with the choice on temperance object too narrow, so that their movement soon decline. Compared with the early protestants’ efforts, the achievement of Catholics was finite. On the one hand, because of the lack of a prelate’s support, on the other hand lies in the lack of leadership.The third chapter is the core of the full text, introduces the life of Father Mathew and the temperance movement he led. Father Matthew based on the Cork Total Abstinence Society, and held a series of temperance events, including his own temperance parade, and thus successfully pushed the temperance movement to the rest of Ireland. In addition, he was also invited to the United States to carry out the activities of temperance by Irish immigrants. In his efforts the Irish immigrants curbed the spread of alcoholism and their international image greatly improved.The final part mainly describes the last days of Father Mathew and the benign changes in Irish society after his temperance movement. For the historical evaluation of Father Matthew and his temperance movement, his contemporary Irish nationalist leader O’Connell gives a clear answer--this is a sacred moral cause.