Religious affiliation in Ireland
The Church of Ireland (Anglican) and
Irish Presbyterianism
Sectarian tension
Problems within the Catholic Church
Mass attendance rates
Popular religion
The impact on the famine

The Devotional Revolution
The role of Paul Cullen
A changing priesthood

‘In the nearly thirty years that he faithfully served Rome in Ireland, Cardinal Paul Cullen not only reformed the Irish Church, but perhaps what was even more important, in the process of reforming that Church he spearheaded the consolidation of a devotional revolution. The great mass of the Irish people became practicing
Catholics, which they have uniquely and essentially remained both at home and abroad down to the present day.’
Larkin, Emmet, (1972), ‘The devotional revolution in
Ireland 1850-1875’, American Historical Review, 77, p625.

In 1834 the Commissioners of Public
Instruction calculated that 80.9 percent of the population of Ireland were Catholics, while 10.7 percent were members of the
Anglican Church of Ireland, and some 8.1 percent were Presbyterians.
In 1861 Catholics made up 77.7 percent of total population. Anglicans accounted for 12 percent and Presbyterians 9 percent.

In 1861 Catholics comprised a minority of the population in four of the counties of Ulster
(Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry).
Catholics were also a minority in Belfast and
Carrickfergus.
In two other Ulster counties (Fermanagh and
Tyrone) they made up a little more than half the population.
Catholics made up 86% of the population in
Leinster, and more than 90% in Munster and
Connacht

96% of Presbyterians lived in
Ulster.
Irish Anglicans were quite dispersed. 56% of Anglicans lived in Ulster, 25% lived
Leinster, 12% in Munster and only 6% percent in Connacht.

The Church of Ireland in the early 19 th century
Bishops and archbishops appointed by the government
Lower clergy – often did not reside in their parishes
Many clerics were pluralists
Churches were often in poor condition

Baptists: grew from around 500 members in 1800 to an estimated
2000 by 1818 and to 4237 by 1861.
The number enrolled in Methodist societies rose from 3000 in the late
1760s to 19000 by 1800 and to
36,903 by 1830.

The Second Reformation is the name given to the early and mid
19 th century campaign to promote the mass conversion of the Ireland’s Catholic population to Protestantism.

th
Some priests: neglected basic pastoral duties did not preach regularly failed to provide for the religious instruction of the young
Did not ensure their parishoners fulfilled their religious duties

First Report of the Commissioners of Public Instruction, Ireland
(1835)
Mass attendance figures:
40-60% in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and
Limerick
80-100% in other Irish towns
30-60% in rural English speaking areas
20-40% in the rural Irish speaking areas

Revised mass attendance figures:
50-75% in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and
Limerick
100% in other Irish towns
37-75% in rural English speaking areas
25-50% in the rural Irish speaking areas

Popular forms of religion in Ireland
The celebration of festivals that marked turning points in the agricultural year -St
Brigid’s day (1 Feb), May Eve and St
John’s Eve (23 June)
Lucky and unlucky actions
Charms
Wakes
Patterns

‘…he had herbs in his hand, and he gave instructions to Michael Cleary to boil them and make the sign of the cross and go round the house making pishrogues.’
Bourke, Angela, The Burning of Bridget
Cleary, pp82-83.

Scene at an Irish wake, 1873

Pattern: ‘a local festival celebrated at a holy well or other significant venue on the feast day of the saint to whom the site was dedicated. By the 18 th century patterns were a major venue for popular sociability…Participants typically combined prayers and ritual observations at the well or other site with dancing and other forms of celebration.’
Oxford Companion to Irish History, p458

The devotional revolution is a term coined in 1972 by the
American historian Emmet
Larkin to describe what he saw as a sudden and dramatic transformation of popular religious practice in Ireland in the period from 1850 to 1875.

Cardinal Paul Cullen (1803-78)

Cardinal Paul Cullen (1803-78)
Committed to ultramontanism
Insisted on the authority of bishops over priests
The pope’s chief whip in Ireland
Brought the Catholic Church in Ireland into line with Roman discipline

Tightened ecclesiastical discipline
Introduced greater uniformity into religious observances
Decided that the sacraments would be transferred from the home to the church
Adopted measures to counteract Protestant missionary activities
Opposed government education schemes