Background to the religious faith and practice of our grandparents and greatgrandparents in Ireland
Please note that the following article is background information only on this topic. It in no way
constitutes a sample or exemplary answer on this topic.
Some key points:
 19th century: Catholic community was a poor community in rural Ireland
 Clergy maintained by voluntary offerings of parishioners
 People highly influenced by the clergy e.g. one Maynooth professor laid down
that a priest could tell the uneducated, from the altar, whom to vote for and that
uneducated men had a moral duty to vote as the priest instructed
 Numbers and power of the Catholic clergy: 1840 approx 1 priest per 3,000
parishioners; 1850 it became 1 priest per 2,000 parishioners. Domineering clergy
– 1846 at a mission in Dingle, the priest used a whip to keep the queue for
confession in order
 Religious Orders and Education – Church had insufficient resources to deal with
growing population but by end of 19th century secondary education was catered
for mostly by the Religious orders: Irish Christian Brothers had 43 schools (7,500
pupils) in 1838 and in 1862 they had 181 schools (20, 280 pupils). 1816 Irish
sisters of Charity founded and had 20 houses by 1879. Loreto Sisters founded in
1822. Irish sisters of Mercy began in 1827 and flourished due to diocesan control.
Presentation Sisters – education of the lower and emigrant classes.
 1840s the Temperance Movement, Fr. Matthew (a Capuchin priest) – drinking
alcohol was a pastime of the poor in Ireland
 Cathedral and Church building was ongoing: 1839-1845 Bishop Cantwell, Meath
diocese, wrote to Dr. Paul Cullen telling him of his achievements – had overseen
building of one cathedral, at least 40 churches, nearly 100 schools and his
seminary was flourishing, 2 new convents of the Sisters of Mercy
 Growth of Confraternities of Christian Doctrine and the Blessed Virgin Mary –
educated the poor in their faith
 Publication of Catholic literature: Dr. Doyle of Kildare got the hierarchy’s
approval for the Catholic Book Society in 18827 – produced 5 million books in 10
years which were distributed through the Confraternities; 1830 launch of the
Catholic Penny Magazine, 1836 the Catholic Directory
 Disagreements among the hierarchy in 2nd quarter of the 19th century on important
questions. Education: Dr Mc Hale, Archbishop of Tuam, refused to have any
dealings with the government, but most bishops accepted the system at least until
the 1850 Synod of Thurles. Disagreement also over Church’s involvement in the
Repeal of the Act of Union – Dublin and Armagh viewed it as a political matter,
Tuam and Cashel more affected by its effects in the lives of people
 1830s-1860s spread of devotion to the Sacred Heart (May devotions and the Forty
Hours adoration): 10th May 1873 all parishes in Ireland were consecrated to the
Sacred Heart
1

















May Devotions, Forty Hour Adoration, Blessed Sacramentals, Novena of Grace
devotion, the Three Hour Agony, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on First
Fridays, Novenas, Stations of the Cross
Young, enthusiastic Irish priests educated in Rome – supported these devotions
Post-famine shortage of priests in some areas – the Established Church sought
converts by material gain. 1804 the Bible Society was established – ‘determined
to save Irish Catholics by inducing them to read the pure word of God’ (O’
Dwyer, p227). 1822 Scripture Readers Society set up to further this work.
Increase in defections from the Catholic faith
In 1847 it was suggested in the House of Commons that if England fed the
starving in Ireland (famine 1845-8) it would have to postpone the task of
changing their religion*
Shortage of priests in some dioceses. 9 vacant curacies in Raphoe in 1840.
Ireland was predominantly rural. 1847-50 high mortality among priests. Clergy
often sold their belongings to relieve people’s starvation
Half century prior to famine served to deepen the faith of the people: Waterford
cathedral offered Sunday Masses until noon, Benediction 3 times per month,
sermon on the first Sunday of the month, devotions each evening during Lent,
Advent and May
1840s Parish Missions introduced – High numbers for confessions, Stations of the
Cross in churches in 1830, Benedictions, Devotions
Sexual morality strong – most single women were chaste (except for activity at
wakes!)
People knew their priests
Parish missions drew huge numbers. ‘The missioners developed a strong counterreformation spirituality which already had some base in the towns and cities’ (O’
Dwyer, p231)
By 1830 devotions such as the Novena of grace, the Three Hours Agony,
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on First Fridays, the Stations of the Cross,
May Devotions and Novenas had taken root
Post-famine Ireland: The Catholic Church became more centralised – Baptisms,
Weddings, Confessions (in a confessional) and Funeral Masses which had taken
place at home were now held in a church as a result of the Synod of Thurles
1852-1878 Archbishop Paul Cullen
1850 Synod of Thurles – a sign of centralisation: all bishops had to attend,
decisions made there and ratified by Rome would be binding on all
Opposition to the 1845 Queen’s Colleges: Cullen and a small majority opposed
them
Growth of diocesan clergy and religious orders. In 1870 there was 1 priest per
1,250 parishioners. A priest was ‘to consider himself a person apart, be prayerful,
studious and maintained by an annual retreat and conferences, dressed in black
with a Roman collar’ (O Dwyer, p232). Friars did excellent work, especially in
the confessional, pulpit and in church building, despite their small numbers and
penal provisions of the 1929 Emancipation Act
Missions: response to proselytism – Friars, Jesuits, Vincentians, Passionists,
Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Redemptorists
2
























Denominational schools sought. 1833 denominational teacher training began.
Religious instruction, based on the catechism, meant that Catholic practice
became more institutionalised and Christian life was seen as obedience to
concrete rules
1858 Apparition at Lourdes of Mary, Mother of Jesus – increase in Marian
Devotions – Lenten Fast
Sunday sermon had a big influence on Christian life
Increase in Church building and growth in mass attendance, especially in poor
areas
After Catholic Emancipation churches were more solidly constructed and the
Blessed Sacrament was reserved in them rather than in the priest’s house
Devotions to Mary increased and the Family Rosary gradually was incorporated
into ‘evening devotions’ in the church in urban areas
1875 Synod of Maynooth – bishops tried to end the ‘un-Christian’ practices of
wakes
Patterns (visits to Holy Wells) declined as did pilgrimages (often ended in faction
fights). Lough Derg remained popular – supervised carefully by the clergy
Synod of Maynooth declared the Penny Catechism: truths to be believed and
duties to be done
New religious Catholic identity for Ireland after 1850s rather than a political
identity
Poverty still existed in rural Ireland especially. When a person came home from
Mass he would often remove his suit and pass it on to a sibling to wear at the next
mass
1870 Vatican I – Dr. Paul Cullen – Dogma of Papal Infallibility
Protestant discrimination against Catholics and sad effects of the evictions noted
by Adolphe Perraud
1879 Disestablishment of the Protestant Church – more Catholics enter public
life. Some Catholic became more affluent
1880s Catholic Hierarchy support the Nationalist Movement
Denominational schools, controlled by clergy, received State support
General religious practice by 1900 was mainly Tridentine, with the addition of
devotions which seemed to become duties
Fr Matthew and Fr John Spratt (O Carm) developed apostalate for temperance.
1880s Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, Fr Cullen SJ
Catholic Truth Society provided over 200 penny booklets. The Jesuit ‘Irish
Messenger’ had a circulation of 75,000
Increase in Religious Vocations and missionary orders: Holy ghost Fathers 1859,
Society of the African Missions, Irish Missionary Orders of Brothers and Sisters
Pádraig Pearse’s poetry – deep faith; founded St. Enda’s school; he had devotion
to Mary (writing for his mother from gaol before his execution)
1921 Legion of Mary founded by Frank Duff and lay apostolate
1923 Nationalist Ireland – Catholic ethos – traditional values were upheld by the
State
1923 and 1929 censorship introduced – ‘prevention is better than cure’ mentality
3



1932 Eucharistic Congress – national pride combined with Catholic faith –
assertion of distinct Irish Catholic cultural identity in the post-colonial era
1937 Constitution – Bunreacht na hÉireann – de Valera – Catholic emphases – the
family and the place of the Catholic religion were paramount
Dáil consulted the hierarchy on 16 of 1800 statutes from 1923 to 1965 (J.H. White,
‘Church and State in Modern Ireland’)









1931 Muintir na Tíre founded by Fr John Hayes – rural organisation
Dr John Charles Mc Quaid, Archbishop of Dublin 1940, organised centres to feed
the poor of Dublin during the Second World War
Dr John Dignan, bishop of Clonfert, appointed to government in 1936 to help
create a national insurance scheme
Dr Browne of Galway was involved in the setting up of vocational education in
1944
Spiritual poetry – Pádraig O’ Fiannachta
Michael Paul Gallagher, SJ, describes apathy, alienation and anger in religious
faith today – 3 forms of decline
Cardinal Cathal Daly has said that many Irish men and women seem to go
through life with the childish concepts of God and religion which they learned
years ago
Irish Catholics seem to be over-sacramentalised and under-evangelised (O’
Dwyer, p274)
T.V – educational in the sense that it teaches values, role models and world views
“It is not easy to grasp the Christian character of an age. It expresses itself in manifold
forms of piety and charity, in the willingness of people to make sacrifices for
ecclesiastical and charitable purposes, in art and literature, and through the participation
of the people in the important duties of the community. But spirituality is not measured
according to the visible achievements of an epoch, but rather by the quality, depth and
degree in which Christ’s life is imitated. The vitality of monastic life and the degree of
striving towards an ideal are always the most reliable gauges for the genuineness of the
religious life of a period” (O’ Dwyer, p269).
“The future of the faith in Ireland depends on our ability to appreciate the present dangers
as clearly as possible. This involves the admission that older responses and forms are not
sufficient. The unique situation that still exists as regards the practice of the faith here is
not unbelief but shallow belief. Religion is no longer the dominant value in our society.
Economics has gradually replaced it – not that economics has created a mentality hostile
to Christianity but one cannot fail to notice how greed, dishonesty and envy have become
quietly developed in attractive forms in some sections of our society. There is a real
danger that religion will become a convention retained on the margins of life but having
little effect on our values” (O’ Dwyer, p273).
*(Mc Namee O. M. I; B; ‘The Second Reformation in Ireland’, Irish Theological Quarterly 33 (1966),
where he cites Hansard, Parliamentary Debates LXXXIX pp502-634)
Adapted from ‘Towards a History of Irish Spiritualit’y, Peter O’ Dwyer (Columba, 1995), pp221-268
4
1962 – 1965 Second Vatican Council – updated role of the Church in the modern
world. Changes included the following:
 Mass changed from Latin to the vernacular
 New church architecture – round design – emphasised the Church as the people of
God
 Altar rails removed or adapted to open up the division of the sacred from the
profane
 Members of religious orders given choice whether to wear distinctive religious
garb
 Updated prayers and liturgies
 Priest now faced the people when saying Mass
 Encouraged lay involvement in liturgies and in parish groups
5