The Voice of the Irish: The Story of Christian Ireland

Front Cover
Hidden Spring, 2003 - 280 pages
2,000 years of Irish Christianity, from St. Patrick to the Peace Process From early Celtic culture to St. Patrick, from everyday monks to the people now engaged in the Peace Process, this sweeping history of Irish faith offers a balanced account of the religious, social, and political life of the Irish people. Michael Staunton shows us the human face of Ireland, from the monk who wrote an ode to his cat in the margin of his illuminated manuscripts, to the dying friar who, in the midst of the Black Death, left a message for anyone surviving what he called the end of the world. The author traces 2,000 years of Irish Christianity, how it both evolved and differed from the Celtic culture of Ireland, and how it survived in its changing forms in the midst of the known Christian world through centuries of strife. This engaging, accessible book provides: * a meticulously researched account of Irish Christianity. * the social, political, and religious panorama of a country in conflict. * fascinating facts and little-known tales of everyday monks struggling to survive major world changes. * cultural and literary Ireland, and the significance of W.B. Yeats and other writers and reformers during the "Irish Troubles." * a fair and balanced account of the present-day Peace Process in Ireland. +
 

Contents

BEFORE CHRISTIANITY
5
PREHISTORIC IRELAND
6
THE CELTS
9
THE GODS OF THE CELTS
13
ST PATRICK AND THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
19
PALLADIUS THE DEACON
26
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE IRISH CHURCH
29
ARMAGH AND THE LEGEND OF ST PATRICK
36
THE ASCENDANCY
135
RADICAL POLITICS
142
THE 1798 REBELLION
146
THE MAKING OF MODERN CHRISTIANITY
153
POPULAR RELIGION
154
EMANCIPATION AND THE LIBERATOR
161
THE FAMINE
169
THE IRISH IN AMERICA
174

SAINTS AND SCHOLARS
45
BRIGID AND BRENDAN
46
COLMCILLE AND COLUMBANUS
53
MONASTIC LIFE AND LEARNING
59
THE VIKINGS
63
THE ANGLONORMAN CHURCH
71
TWELFTHCENTURY REFORM
73
ST MALACHY AND THE NEW RELIGIOUS ORDERS
78
THE COMING OF THE NORMANS
83
THE DECLINE OF THE NORMAN CHURCH
88
REFORMATION AND REVOLUTION
97
THE TUDOR REFORMATION
98
COUNTERREFORMATION AND CONQUEST
104
PROTESTANT IDENTITY
111
WARS OF RELIGION
117
CATHOLIC PROTESTANT AND DISSENTER
127
THE PENAL ERA
128
RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS
177
THE CHURCHES AND POLITICS
181
THE UNION AND THE NATION
191
IRISH NATIONALISM
198
CATHOLIC IRELAND
207
THE DIVIDED PROVINCE
216
INTO THE NEW MILLENNIUM
225
A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT?
232
EVER FAITHFUL?
238
PEACE IN THE NORTH?
247
THE END OF CATHOLIC IRELAND
253
CONCLUSION
259
ENDNOTES AND FURTHER READING
263
PICTURE CREDITS
276
INDEX
277
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

Michael Staunton is a lecturer in history at University College, Dublin.

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