Unit Three Section I: Religion: The Irish Experience
Part three: Christianity in Ireland
Topic 3.6 Religion in contemporary Ireland
Procedure
Changes in the sphere of influence: the impact of religion on people’s lives in contemporary Ireland
Brainstorm students on ways that people are influenced by religion today.
Note any similarities and differences in how young people are influenced by religion.
Question: In what ways are the Christian churches having an influence on people’s lives
in Ireland today?
Take feedback and explain that religious belief and religious practice are still in evidence
today in Ireland. The influence of the Christian churches remains constant. Religious
belief has changed little. Confidence in local clergy continues. Research suggests that
many people (including young adults) have authentic belief in God and they express this
in prayer. However, Greely and Ward found that among those born in the 1970s there is a
lower level of religious practice, a distrust of the institutional church organization and
difficulty with traditional sexual ethics.
Refer to student work on this topic and answer the following questions.
Questions: 1. What do you notice about the trends in religious affiliation in Ireland?
2. Suggest reasons for the rise in religious affiliation.
3. Why do you think the numbers professing ‘no religion’ are also increasing?
Religion is highly evident in the many rituals performed by believers in contemporary
Ireland. Such rituals include: celebrating the sacraments, pilgrimages, devotions,
novenas, visits to holy wells and sacred sites, funeral rites, Easter ceremonies and others.
Refer to student work on this topic.
Assignment: Find out what religious practices / observances / devotions / rituals people
participate in among your family and within your locality.
Question: Why do you think people continue to express their religious faith in rituals
such as those mentioned above?
Reading suggested by teachers:
Religion: The Irish Experience, J.R. Walsh (2003) Dublin: Veritas.
‘How ‘Secularised’ is the Ireland We Live In?, A. Greely & C. Ward (2000), in ‘Doctrine
and Life’ 50 pp581-617.
‘Young Educated Adults: A Survey’, Desmond O’ Donnell in ‘Doctrine and Life’ 52
(2002), pp3-79.
Where Three Streams Meet. Celtic Spirituality, S. Ó’ Duinn (2000) Dublin: Columba.
Pagan Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age, B. Raftery (1997) London: Thames &
Hudson.
A History of the Irish Church 400-700 AD., T. Bradley & J.R. Walsh (1993) Dublin:
Columba.
Towards a History of Irish Spirituality, P. Ó’ Dwyer (1995) Dublin: Columba.
http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/2002/pdr_2002.pdf
Religion in the Irish Constitution
Recall students’ knowledge of the 2006/7 controversy over the place of God in the
European Constitution.
Questions:
1. Many people held strong views on whether or not God should be mentioned in the
European constitution. Why was this such a divisive issue?
2. Suggest arguments for and against the inclusion of a reference to God in the
European Constitution.
Take feedback and explain that the Irish Constitution makes explicit reference to God and
that it was drawn up in the first half of twentieth century Ireland when the majority of
people in Ireland professed a strong Catholic religious affiliation. This had a very
definite influence on the values underpinning the Irish constitution. The preamble
recognises God as Trinity. Article 44 upholds the right to practice one’s religion. In
1972 provisions honouring the position of the Roman Catholic Church were removed by
a referendum.
Assignment: Study the Irish Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann, 1937. Discuss the role
of religion in the Irish Constitution. Compare the influence of religion on the constitution
today with 1937.
Reading suggested by teachers: Religion: The Irish Experience, J.R. Walsh, Veritas.
The emergence of pluralism
Brainstorm students on the meaning of the word ‘pluralism’.
Take feedback and explain that the word ‘pluralism’ comes from the Latin word ‘plus’ /
‘pluris’ meaning ‘more’. It describes the existence of a variety of distinct elements
within one unified whole. The term is often used to describe modern societies where
many different and distinct threads of tradition are ‘woven together into a tapestry of one
political system without their losing their distinctive identities’ (J,R. Walsh, Religion:
The Irish Experience, p112).
Read student work on ‘The Emergence of Pluralism’.
Discuss:
1. Is contemporary Ireland a pluralist society? What evidence exists to support your
opinion?
2. Suggest current threats or obstacles to the existence of a pluralist society.
Links: Section D Moral Decision Making, Part 3.1 Morality in a pluralist society.
Suggested reading:
Religion: The Irish Experience, J.R. Walsh (2003) Veritas.
Cultures, Pluralism and Religious Faith, S. Murphy (2003) Studies 92 pp 34-91
‘The Expanding Horizons of Catholic Education’, Dermot A. Lane in ‘The Future of
Religion in Irish Education’, eds. P. Hogan and K. Williams (1997) pp128-137.
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, n92.
Declaration of the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate
(In Our times), 1965.
Towards a History of Irish Spirituality, P. O’ Dwyer (1995) Dublin: Columba
www.cso.ie
The ecumenical dimension of religion in Ireland
Brainstorm students on the meaning of the ‘ecumenism’.
Take feedback and explain that the word ‘ecumenism’ refers to the ‘movement in the
Church towards the unity of all believers in Christ (Ephesians 4:21), and into which the
Holy Spirit leads (John 16:13). The term has its roots in the Greek word ‘oikoumene’
that means ‘the whole inhabited world’’ (J.R. Walsh, Religion: The Irish Experience,
p114).
Suggested reading:
www.tcd.ie/ise (Irish School of Ecumenics)
www.materdei.ie/logos
Pamphlet: ‘Ecumenical Relations in Ireland’, Irish Council of Churches (available from
the Irish Council of Churches, 48 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast BT 9 6 AZ)