During the potato famines that plagued Ireland in the 1830s and 1840s, Father Leopold Mathew, a Capuchin priest, turned many away from drinking. Frederick Douglass was inspired by Mathew and Isabel Jennings during his visit to Cork.
Ann Coughlin describes Frederick Douglass' visit to Cork, Ireland, her hometown. He stayed with the Jennings family whose daughter, Isabel was the secretary of the Cork Anti-Slavery Society. The Quakers and Methodists were among the first to fight for the abolition of slavery. Father Leopold Mathew at that time led a temperance movement in Ireland which influenced Douglass greatly.