Matt Talbot
Irish labourer who overcame alcoholism
Who they were
Matt Talbot was born in Dublin on 2 May 1856. He went to work at twelve for a firm that bottled beer, began drinking the dregs from returned bottles, and was an alcoholic by sixteen.
At 28 he took the pledge to stop drinking for three months, then pledged to stay sober for life, and kept it. For the rest of his life he lived a hidden life of prayer and penance: rising at 2 in the morning to pray, going to Mass at 5, sleeping on a plank, and studying the early Irish monks. He died suddenly of a heart attack in Dublin on 7 June 1925. When his body was examined, chains were found wrapped around it, worn as a private penance.
The miracles
No miracle has yet been approved. Pope Paul VI declared Matt Talbot Venerable on 3 October 1975, recognising that he lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. One approved miracle through his intercession is needed for him to be beatified. He is widely prayed to by people struggling with addiction.
Why that counted as sanctity
On 3 October 1975 the Church declared that this life showed the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and gave the title Venerable.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- IrishCentral - Venerable Matt Talbot, Dublin native en route to sainthood
- Denver Catholic - Venerable Matt Talbot, the saint of sobriety
- Franciscan Media - Matt Talbot
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.