{"product_id":"the-best-catholics-in-the-world-the-irish-the-church-and-the-end-of-a-special-relationship-9781844885275","title":"The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003eThe Number One Bestseller Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2021 is a landmark book that explores the tight hold the Catholic Church had on the Irish, going to Masses, novenas, shrines, and seminaries, and talking to those who have abandoned it and those who have held on. It is a lively personal odyssey and a resonant and gripping work of reporting that is a major contribution to the story of Ireland. \u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLength\u003c\/strong\u003e: 352 pages\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date\u003c\/strong\u003e: 10 March 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: Penguin Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Number One Bestseller\u003cbr\u003eShortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2021\u003cbr\u003eA great achievement. . . Brilliant, engaging, and essential\u003cbr\u003eColm Tóibín\u003cbr\u003eAt once intimate and epic, this is a landmark book\u003cbr\u003eFintan O Toole\u003cbr\u003eWhen Dubliner Derek Scally goes to Christmas Eve Mass on a visit home from Berlin, he finds more memories than congregants in the church where he was once an altar boy. Not for the first time, the collapse of the Catholic Church in Ireland brings to mind the fall of another powerful ideology - East German communism. While Germans are engaging earnestly with their past, Scally sees nothing comparable going on in his native land. So he embarks on a quest to unravel the tight hold the Church had on the Irish.\u003cbr\u003eHe travels the length and breadth of Ireland and across Europe, going to Masses, novenas, shrines, and seminaries, talking to those who have abandoned the Church and those who have held on, to survivors and campaigners, to writers, historians, psychologists, and many more. And he has probing and revealing encounters with Vatican officials, priests, and religious along the way.\u003cbr\u003eThe Best Catholics in the World is the remarkable result of his three-year journey. With wit, wisdom, and compassion, Scally gives voice and definition to the murky and difficult questions that face a society coming to terms with its troubling past. It is both a lively personal odyssey and a resonant and gripping work of reporting that is a major contribution to the story of Ireland.\u003cbr\u003eReflective, textured, insightful, and original ... rich with history, interrogation, and emotional intelligence\u003cbr\u003eDiarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times\u003cbr\u003eAn unblinking look at the collapse of the Church and Catholic deference in Ireland. Excellent and timely\u003cbr\u003eJohn Banville, The Sunday Times\u003cbr\u003eEngaging, informative, and essential. . . A compelling and important book\u003cbr\u003eSeamus Heaney, The Guardian\u003cbr\u003eA powerful and important book that sheds light on a critical period in Irish history\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeight\u003c\/strong\u003e: 320g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimension\u003c\/strong\u003e: 454 x 200 x 26 (mm)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: 9781844885275\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derek Scally","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":44100878041338,"sku":"9781844885275","price":7.13,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/products\/1647341323205_book.jpg?v=1647359501","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/the-best-catholics-in-the-world-the-irish-the-church-and-the-end-of-a-special-relationship-9781844885275","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}