Knights of Father Mathew

The Knights of Father Mathew was a Catholic temperance society founded by Fr Theobald Matthew in Ireland which promoted complete abstinence from intoxicating liquors.

Father Mathew began his work in the U.S. in 1849, at which time he was entertained by the President and granted a seat within the bar of the Senate and on the floor of the House.

Father Mathew spent two and a half years in the U.S., traveled 37,000 miles, visited 25 states, administered the temperance pledge in over 300 cities and towns to an estimated more than 500,000 people.

Chapters or “councils” were permitted to organize branches of Catholic women that were called "Ladies' Auxiliaries of the Knights of Father Mathew."

In early 1900s expanded to include non-Irish Catholics, especially second-generation English-speaking German immigrants [1] In 1915, renamed the Knights and Ladies of Father Matthew when women were admitted to full membership.