This book traces the steady decline in Irish Catholicism from the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979 up to the Cloyne report into clerical sex abuse in that diocese in 2011. The young people awaiting the Pope's address in Galway were entertained by two of Ireland's most charismatic clerics, Bishop Eamon Casey and Fr Michael Cleary, both of whom were subsequently revealed to have been engaged in romantic liaisons at the time.

The decades that followed the Pope's visit were characterised by the increasing secularisation of Irish society. Boasting an impressive array of contributors from various backgrounds and expertise, the essays in the book attempt to trace the exact reasons for the progressive dismantling of the cultural legacy of Catholicism and the consequences this has had on Irish society.

About the Author

Eamon Maher is Director of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies in IT Tallaght
Eugene O'Brien is Head of the Department of English Language and Literature at Mary Immaculate College and Director of the Institute for Irish Studies

Reviews

'A new book on the issue, Tracing the Cultural Legacy of Irish Catholicism, is highly readable...this timely study is to be recommended.'
Mark Patrick Henderman is a monk of Glanstal Abbey in Limerick, The Irish Times, 27/05/2017

'We've heard the constituent elements of the process denied and exaggerated ad nauseam but this book provides them with a context and an analysis that raises the debate to another level y providing thirteen articles, mainly by academics, that help to interpret what's happened, what's happening and what may happen in the future to the 'lost legacy' of a Catholic culture...For anyone interested in the cultural legacy of Irish Catholicism, this book is a must-read.'
Brendan Hoban, priest of the Diocese of Killala, The Furrow, Vol. 68, No. 9, September 2017

'Maher and O'Brien, who lectures in English Language and Literature at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, have assembled a fascinating series of contributions. In most chapters, the writing and argumentation are accessible to both popular and academic audiences.'
Gladys Ganiel, Slugger

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Book Information
ISBN 9781526129635
Author Eamon Maher
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publisher Manchester University Press