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Catch-my-Pal, alternatively known as the 'Protestant Total-Abstinence Union', was an anti-alcohol organisation founded on 13 July 1909 in Armagh, Ireland. The organisation closed down in January 1970, when its last club stopped operations.Barkley, J., 1972. "St. Enoch's Congregation 1872-1972." Century Services, Belfast. pp 84–85
Its distinctive feature was that members would competitively persuade one of their friends to come with them and take 'the pledge' at each meeting. This 'Catch-my-Pal' method—a phrase coined by its founder, Rev. Robert Patterson—was later used to recruit the Pals battalion to the British Army in World War I.
The Catch-my-Pal movement attracted a large number of followers in Ireland and Great Britain. In 1914, Patterson claimed that "About 140,000 men and women joined the Union during the first year in Ireland; and almost 500 branches were formed in less than two years'.Patterson, R.J., 1914. The Happy art of Catching Men. George H. Doran, New York. p. 63
While he was on a tour of the United States, Patterson told the Springfield Republican about the organisation's founding:
Patterson was a well-known figure at the time, touring extensively in the British Empire and the United States. His writing was quoted approvingly by the 'baseball evangelist' Billy Sunday.W.A. Firstenberger, 2005, In Rare Form: A Pictorial History of Baseball Evangelist Billy Sunday, Iowa City, University of Iowa Press, p. 72
The organisation flourished in the years before the First World War, in which many of its members fought, and continued in existence in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Australia through the 1950s and 1960s. The last official club closed in 1970.Belfast Telegraph, 15/1/1970 p. 10. There is a snooker hall in Dunmurry bearing the name Catch-my-Pal, but it is not a temperance organisation.
A 'Blue Plaque' historical marker dedicated to Robert Patterson was erected on the facade of The Mall Meeting House in Armagh on 20 September 2019. It was unveiled by Rev. William Henry, the Moderator of the General Assembly.
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