Pioneers contribution to building modern Ireland

jonniebgood1

The pioneers are an organisation that are quite prominent in Ireland, there are reasons for this which can be looked into. But how important was (i.e. in history rather than at present) their role in Ireland? They certainly don't downplay their own role:

The Pioneers have played a very important role in Irish society in the 20th century. The historian Ulick O’Connor claims that the two organizations that contributed most to the building of modern Ireland were the Pioneers and the GAA. http://www.jesuit.ie/where-we-work/pioneer-total-abstinence-association

Does the above statement accurately credit the role of the PTAA?
What were their aims and purpose throughout the 1900's and how did they influence the forming of modern Ireland, either culturally or historically?

jonniebgood1

On their 50 year anniversary the PTAA held one of its biggest meetings in Croke Park, I think that gives an idea of their size at the time. This and some further information about the timing of the decline in numbers here:

In 1948 under the directorship of Fr Seán McCarron the association began to publish a magazine to act as the official organ of the PTAA. The Pioneer continues to be published today. The popularity of the PTAA remained steady throughout the 1940s and 1950s during which the Association celebrated two major milestones, the Golden and Diamond Jubilees. Croke Park hosted the celebrations on both occasions. Official figures estimated that approximately 100,000 people attended the Golden Jubilee in 1949. The association also organised the celebrations for the centenary of Fr Theobald Matthew held in Cork in 1954.

The popularity of the Association began to wane in the 1960s and it struggled during the cultural changes that took place in the 1960s and 70s, attracting fewer members and in general appealing less and less to adolescents and young adults. The PTAA needed a new direction and began to turn its attention to other challenges and possibilities, in particular focusing on Africa and the potential for attracting members in emerging African countries. Today the membership of the PTAA continues to grow in Africa and Latin America. Through its publications, events and website, the Association maintains a presence in Irish society. http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/pioneer-association.html

I have not seen what current worldwide numbers are currently.

These large meetings must have been common. The photo below is from a 60 year anniversary meeting:
http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/index.php/who-we-are/4-history

corktina

jeez that must have been some miserable party.:rolleyes:

tac foley

corktina wrote: »

jeez that must have been some miserable party.:rolleyes:

x 100

All that temperance in just one place, eh?

tac

jonniebgood1

tac foley wrote: »

x 100

All that temperance in just one place, eh?

tac

They were a serious power though- a gathering of 100,000 in croke park proves this. Some people objected to their golden and diamond jubilee meeting though.

The scenes witnessed in 1949 and 1959 were not savoured by all, and provoked the ire of the brilliant writer and notorious drinker, Flann O’Brien, who lambasted the association for bringing Dublin to a standstill on the hottest day of the year in June 1949 in order to, as he saw it, parade their piety.


He remarked: “Dublin’s working man with his wife or four children intent on spending a day at the seaside does not have to journey to Croke Park to prove that he is not a slave to whiskey. If he can manage a pint of porter a day, it is the best he can do… I can call nothing comparable to yesterday’s procedure and I hope somebody will examine the legality of it. If the abstainers are entitled to disrupt transport in their own peculiar and selfish interest, there is in our democratic mode no reason in the world why the drinking men of Ireland should not demand and be given the same right. Let everybody stay at home because the boozers are in town! I would advise these Pioneer characters that there is more in life than the bottle, that fair play to others is important and that temperance — taking the word in its big and general value — is a thing they might strive to cultivate a bit better.” http://www.pioneertotal.ie/pioneer/fc?action=showArticle&artnum=82

This is from a newspaper piece written by Diarmaid Ferriter. He outlines where the pioneers downfall may have come from.

As Taoiseach, Seán Lemass decided to ignore the appeals of temperance reformers to resist this tide of liberalisation. He absolved politicians of any responsibility for this area and squared the circle of episcopal disapproval by asserting in the Dáil “drunkenness is a sin for which men are responsible to a higher court than ours”.

As Fr Dargan put it a few years later, “unfortunately some elements in government circles seem anxious to throw off restraint where liquor laws are concerned. Nevertheless, the government is far better qualified than any other group to prevent this abuse”.

This was recognition that as a non-political organisation, and in the face of the mighty power of the vintners, the Pioneers’ influence could only extend so far. The Pioneers were also frustrated that the intoxicating liquor report in 1959 had offered the bogus conclusion that “drunkenness has ceased to be a problem in the State” on the grounds that prosecutions for public drunkenness had declined since the 1920s.

Manach

Thankfully we Irish can now deal with alcohol - as exampled by this day, St. Patrick's :rolleyes: