About the Book
This book provides a comprehensive and field-defining examination of the study of religions in Ireland. By bringing together some of the foremost experts on religions in an Irish context, it critically traces the development of an important field of study and evaluates the thematic threads that have emerged as significant.
It thereby offers an assessment of contemporary religions in Ireland and their relationships to society, culture, economics, politics and the State. Contributors make connections between topics as diverse as Ireland’s Revolutionary Period, the formation of the Irish State, the decline of Catholicism, the rise of migrant religions and New Religious Movements and the effects of secularisation on religions and society.
This book emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the study of religions whilst illustrating the coherent themes that have shaped the development of the field in Ireland, making it unique.
Table of Contents:
Preface, Brendan McNamara (University College Cork, Ireland) and Hazel O’Brien (Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland)
Part I: Disciplinary Overview of the Study of Religions in Ireland
1. The Study of Religions in Ireland – an Entangled History, Alexandra Grieser (Trinity College Dublin) and Brian Bocking (Professor Emeritus at University College Cork, Ireland)
2. Historical Perspectives: Irish Nationalist Women’s Religious and Political Revolutions, Amy Heath Carpentier (Washington University, USA)
3. Reflections on Irish Folklore and Religion, Sile De Cleir (University of Limerick, Ireland)
4. The Academic Discipline of Religious Education at Primary Level in Ireland, Patricia Kieran (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland)
5. Understanding the Sociology of Religion in Contemporary Ireland, Ganiel Gladys (Queens University, Belfast, UK)
Part II. Themes in the Contemporary Study of Religions in Ireland
6. Esotericism, Romantic Nationalism, and the Birth of the Irish State, Jenny Butler (University College Cork, Ireland)
7. Affirmations of Irishness: Traversing the Contours of Irish Protestant Identity, Deirdre Nutall (Independent Researcher, Ireland) and Tony Walsh (Maynooth University, Ireland)
8. Situating New Religious Movements in Contemporary Ireland, Vesna Malesevic (NUI Galway, Ireland)
9. Migrant Religions and the Irish State, Abel Ugba (University of Leeds, UK)
10. Irish Catholicism: Where has it Been and Where is it Going?, Brian Conway (Maynooth University, Ireland)
11. Thinking beyond the Island: Buddhism, Ireland and Method in the Study of Religions, Laurence Cox (Maynooth University, Ireland) and Brian Bocking (Professor Emeritus at University College Cork, Ireland)
Postface, Mapping the Religious Field in Ireland, Tom Inglis (Professor Emeritus University College Dublin, Ireland)
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Brendan McNamara is a lecturer in the study of religions at University College Cork, Ireland.
Hazel O'Brien is a lecturer in sociology at South East Technological University, Ireland.
Review :
The editors of The Study of Religions in Ireland are to be congratulated. As someone who researches Irish religious history, it often seems that most books on religion in Ireland focus solely on Catholic and Protestant Christianity. The rich variety of approaches in this fine collection contributes to a holistic, balanced view of religious studies in Ireland.
For centuries, religion has played a major role in Irish society but The Study of Religions in Ireland is the first critical study dealing with the different religions in Ireland in the past and at present. This volume is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the fundamental changes that Irish society is undergoing in relation to religion at large.
This book is a landmark publication, which offers a state-of-the-art survey of religions in Ireland and an ambitious agenda for future work in this increasingly important field. It will be essential reading for scholars, practitioners and journalists.
15 years after the establishment of the first Study of Religions Department in Ireland at University College Cork, this volume offers a highly valuable snapshot of current research on Ireland’s diverse religious field and promises to inspire more research in the future.
This book makes and holds space for a diverse and nuanced discussion on the dynamics of religion in Irish life, and the relationships between religion and identity, gender, community life and social and political history. It will be an important touchstone for scholars across a number of disciplines that engage with the continuing significance of religion in contemporary life, as well as the material, cultural and social heritages of religion in Ireland.
We find in the diversity and extent of the collection a comprehensive filling of a gap in the literature. As far as being field-defining, this purpose is achieved insofar as, from the first page, there is a sense of being introduced to an emerging discipline. In this volume, the editors, Brendan McNamara and Hazel O’Brien, introduce the reader to ASR (Academic Study of Religions) in Ireland, and provide a diverse overview of religions that are old and new to Ireland, with an in-depth historical overview from different perspectives … We consider this book to have much to offer as a valuable source for the academic community, students, and lay readers interested in the study of religions in Ireland.
