Irish Catholic identities / edited by Oliver P. Rafferty.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rafferty, Oliver.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Catholic Church.

Catholics--Religious identity--Ireland.

Catholics.

Catholic Church--Ireland--History.

History.

Catholics--Religious identity.

Ireland.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

x, 386 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester Univ. Press, 2013.

Summary:

What does it mean to be Irish? Are the predicates Catholic and Irish so inextricably linked that it is impossible to have one and not the other? Does the process of secularisation in modern times indicate that Catholicism is no longer a touchstone of what it means to be Irish? Indeed was such a paradigm ever true? These are among the fundamental issues addressed in this work which examines whether distinct identity formation can be traced over time. The book delineates the course of historical developments which complicated the process of identity formation in the Irish context, when by turns Irish Catholics saw themselves as battling against English hegemony or the Protestant Reformation. Was Irish Catholic identity in such circumstances simply a negative construct which served to give some semblance of cultural coherence in an Ireland that was fundamentally changing? Without doubt the Reformation era east a long shadow over how Irish Catholics would see themselves. But the process of identity formation was of much longer duration. The twenty-two chapters of this work trace the elements which have shaped how the Catholic Irish identified themselves from the coming of Christianity to the contemporary era, and explore the political, religious, and cultural dimensions of the complex picture which is Irish Catholic identity. The individual essays, using traditional historical sources as well as contemporary literary works, together represent a systematic attempt, unique in the literature, to explore the fluidity of the components that make up Catholic identity in the Irish context. Aimed at scholars, students and general readers alike, Irish Catholic Identities brings together some of the foremost scholars in their respective fields including: Tom Bartlett, Donnchahd Ó Corráin, Owen Dudley Edwards, Raymond Gillespie, and Bernard O'Donoghue. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I The Celts, Catholicism and the middle ages

1 Gaelic and Catholic in the early middle ages / Bernhard Maier Maier, Bernhard 21

2 Island of saints and scholars: myth or reality? / Donnchadh Ó Corráin Corráin, Donnchadh Ó 32

3 The devotional landscape of medieval Irish cultural Catholicism inter hibernicos et inter anglicos, c.1200-c.1550 / Salvador Ryan Ryan, Salvador 62

Part II Early modern struggles

4 Irish political Catholicism from the 1530s to 1660 / David Finnegan Finnegan, David 77

5 The 'absenting of the bishop of Armagh': eucharistic controversy and the English origins of Irish Catholic identity, 1550-51 / James Murray Murray, James 92

6 Henry Fitzsimon, the Irish Jesuits and Catholic identity in the early modern period Brian Jackson 110

7 Gaelic Catholicism and the Ulster plantation / Raymond Gillespie Gillespie, Raymond 124

Part III Identity formation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

8 Irish-language sources for Irish Catholic identity since the early modern period: a brief survey / Éamonn Ó Ciardha Ciardha, Éamonn Ó 139

9 The penal laws against Irish Catholics: were they too good for them? / Thomas Bartlett Bartlett, Thomas 154

Part IV Culture, women and the American diaspora

10 Irish Catholic culture in the nineteenth century: a study in perjury / Owen Dudley Edwards Edwards, Owen Dudley 171

11 The voices of Catholic women in Ireland, 1800-1921 / Caitriona Clear Clear, Caitriona 199

12 Irish diaspora Catholicism in North America / David Doyle Doyle, David 211

Part V English Catholics and Irish identity

13 Brethren in Christ: Frederick Lucas and social Catholicism in Ireland / Patrick Maume Maume, Patrick 231

14 The 'greening' of Cardinal Manning / Fergal Casey Casey, Fergal 243

Part VI Faith, wealth and Catholic Unionism

15 Power, wealth and Catholic identity in Ireland, 1850-1900 / Ciaran O'Neill O'Neill, Ciaran 259

16 The Esmonde family of Co. Wexford and Catholic loyalty / Richard Keogh Keogh, Richard, James McConnel McConnel, James 274

17 Catholic Unionism: a case study: Sir Denis Stanislaus Henry (1864-1925) / Éamon Phoenix Phoenix, Éamon 292

Part VII Contemporary expressions of Catholic and Irish identity

18 Identity and political fragmentation in independent Ireland, 1923-83 / Louise Fuller Fuller, Louise 307

19 Secular prayers: Catholic imagination, modern Irish writing and the case of John McGahern / Frank Shovlin Shovlin, Frank 321

20 Catholic-Christian identity and modern Irish poetry / Bernard O'Donoghue O'Donoghue, Bernard 333

21 Northern Catholics and the early years of the Troubles / Oliver P. Rafferty Rafferty, Oliver P. 345

22 Irish identity and the future of Catholicism / Niall Coll Coll, Niall 362.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719084959

0719084954

OCLC:

849209308