Unholy Catholic Ireland: Religious Hypocrisy, Secular Morality, and Irish Irreligion

Hugh Turpin's book explores the emergence and character of religious rejection in the Republic of Ireland, examining how economic growth, social liberalization, and Church scandals have led to a rapid growth in ex-Catholicism. He traces the frictions between practicing Catholics, cultural Catholics, and ex-Catholics during a period of cultural change and moral reckoning, showing how deeply the meanings of being religious or non-religious have changed in the country once described as Holy Catholic Ireland.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 05 August 2022
Publisher: Stanford University Press

Ireland is a contemporary Western European society that is strongly associated with Catholicism, with being a good Irish citizen often equated with being a good and observant Catholic. However, this relationship has been changing in recent times, with the Irish Catholic Church losing influence and relevance and becoming increasingly desacralized. In his book, Hugh Turpin offers an innovative and in-depth account of the nature and emergence of ex-Catholicism, a new model of the good and secular Irish person that is being rapidly adopted in Irish society. Turpin uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the emergence and character of religious rejection in the Republic, exploring how factors such as economic growth, social liberalization, attenuated domestic religious socialization, institutional scandals and moral collapse of the Church, and the Church's lingering influence in social institutions and laws have interacted to produce a rapid growth in ex-Catholicism. By tracing the frictions within and between practicing Catholics, cultural Catholics, and ex-Catholics in a period of profound cultural change and moral reckoning, Turpin shows how deeply the meanings of being religious or non-religious have changed in the country once described as Holy Catholic Ireland.

Weight: 522g
Dimension: 151 x 228 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503633131