Matthew Talbot (1856 - 1925) lived at an incredibly difficult time. He and his 13 siblings were born into poverty in Dublin shortly after the Irish Potato Famine. One million people died from this largely human-made disaster that saw, even while starvation was rampant, the British government's siphoning off of profit from Irish crops and livestock. Another million people emigrated out of the country, and alcoholism was rampant among those who stayed behind.