Statue of Father Theobald Mathew

Free to visit

The Statue of Father Theobald Mathew commemorates an Irish Catholic priest known as the Apostle of Temperance. Father Mathew founded the Temperance Movement in the 19th century, advocating complete abstinence from alcohol.

Father Theobald Mathew was born in 1790. He entered Maynooth College and later joined the Capuchin Order in Dublin. Having completed his studies, he was ordained a priest on Easter Sunday, 1814.

In 1838, Father Mathew established a total abstinence from alcohol movement, which spread through many parishes around Ireland. The influence of Father Mathew's Temperance Movement, as it became known, is still felt in many countries around the world today.

The Statue of Father Theobald Mathew was sculpted from sandstone in 1893 by Mary Redmond and erected on a limestone plinth by public subscription, with unanimous support from Dublin Corporation. The statue stands centrally on O’Connell Street, in Dublin City centre just behind The Spire.