Cork In 50 Artworks, No 10: Fr Mathew statue on St Patrick's Street 

Cork's most famous artwork was unveiled before an estimated crowd of 100,000 in 1864, and has survived a British rampage, an ambitious Catalan, and a pandemic 

The statue of Fr Mathew with a mask during the pandemic. Picture: Denis Minihane

There are any number of public artworks in Cork city, but only one is so fondly regarded that it is known to all and sundry as ‘the Statue’: John Foley’s bronze sculpture of the temperance campaigner Fr Theobald Mathew, at the northern end of St Patrick's St. 
  In the early 19th century, chronic alcoholism was prevalent among the Irish people. In response, the Total Abstinence Society was formed in Dublin in 1836. It invited people to sign a pledge, stating they would henceforth abstain “from all intoxicating drinks.” 

 Fr Mathew - a native of Thomastown, Co Tipperary – was asked to promote the movement in Cork, where he served as Provincial of the Capuchin Order and was already well known for his charisma and industry. Crowds flocked to his meetings to sign the pledge, and he was soon invited to travel the country, converting hundreds of thousands to the cause.