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Expected publication date: 01 April 2026
First published in 1985 this was the first modern one-volume account of Irish Catholicism, written by Ireland’s most distinguished ecclesiastical historian. An outstanding work of synthesis, the product of a lifetime’s study, it is an indispensable guide to one of the most formidable institutions in the world, and its role as a central formative agent in Irish national identity.
Professor Corish traces the development of Irish Catholicism from the early years of the Celtic Church, with its own particular rites and practices, through the medieval period when it became wholly a part of the Western Latin Church.
More than most national Churches, it was shaken to the roots by the Reformation, whose political legacy was particularly severe in Ireland, culminating in the Penal Laws enacted by the new Protestant ascendancy. The nineteenth century brought a major revival and created the powerful institution with which the world grew familiar. This transformation in the fortunes of the Church and people in the middle of the nineteenth century is probably the most remarkable aspect of The Irish Catholic Experience.
The narrative concludes in 1960 in the final years of the triumphant Irish Church before the winds of change wrought by ecumenism and the Second Vatican Council bore in upon it.
This new edition includes a new introduction by Prof. Mary Ann Lyons, a Foreword by the late Archbishop Noel Treanor, and is presented with illustrations and colour plates, making available this important work to new generations of researchers in an attractive and accessible design.