The devotional revolution was a period of Irish history between around 1850 and 1875 when the Catholic Church in Ireland was reformed and revitalized, led by Cardinal-Archbishop Paul Cullen.
Background
edit- what irish catholicism was like before the famine
- long-term degradation of church structure, catholic emancipation, population explosion, famine
- Cullen arrives in 1850, appointed Archbishop of Armagh
In the year 1800, the Catholic population of Ireland was around 3.9 million people, with 26 bishops and 1,850 priests; the ratio of priests to faithful was roughly one to 2,100. By 1845 the Catholic population had risen to nearly 7 million, and for each priest there were around 3,000 faithful. The Catholic Church responded to this shortage by increasing the number of priests by 400 from 1840 to 1846, when the Great Famine started. However, the ratio in 1850 remained around the same as in 1800. The devastation of the Great Famine reduced the Catholic population by around 2 million by 1850.[1]
Mass attendance in pre-Famine Ireland was relatively low, with around a third of the population attending. This was caused by the lack of priests and churches, and the small size of existing churches and chapels. The practice of "stations", celebrating religious rites in private houses in exchange for monetary offerings, was widespread.[2] Many Irish people lacked the opportunity to participate in the sacraments, and scarcity of resources and the large population impeded evangelization of the poor.[3]
In the early 19th century the Church also steadily reformed the behavior of the clergy, finding the most success in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin.[4] Avarice and alcoholism were particularly problems among the Irish clergy.[5] By the early 1840s, the movements of Father Mathew and Daniel O'Connell for temperance and the Repeal Association had contributed to the start of what would become the devotional revolution.[6]
Reforms
editAccording to the historian Emmet Larkin, the Synod of Thurles in 1850 marked the beginning of the devotional revolution. The synod focused on sacramental propriety and regulation of the clergy; it encouraged frequent celebration of the sacraments, dissuading administering of sacraments outside churches when possible.[7]
Legacy
edit- long-term effects on Irish Catholicism
- after decline in prominence of the Church - factors
Historiography
edit- coined by Larkin in 1972 - criticism & responses - how it's interpreted today in wake of secularism
References
edit- ^ Larkin 1972, pp. 626–627
- ^ Larkin 1972, p. 636
- ^ Larkin 1972, pp. 638–639
- ^ Larkin 1972, p. 630
- ^ Larkin 1972, p. 632
- ^ Larkin 1972, p. 637
- ^ Larkin 1972, pp. 639–640
Bibliography
edit- Larkin, Emmet (June 1972). "The Devotional Revolution in Ireland, 1850-75". The American Historical Review. 77 (3): 625–652. doi:10.2307/1870344. JSTOR 1870344.
Further reading
edit- Barr, Colin (2020). Ireland's Empire: The Roman Catholic Church in the English-Speaking World, 1829-1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107040922.
- Keogh, Dáire; McDonnell, Albert (2011). Cardinal Paul Cullen and his World. Four Courts Press. ISBN 1846822351.
- Larkin, Emmet (2006). The Pastoral Role of the Roman Catholic Church in Pre-famine Ireland, 1750-1850. Four Courts Press. ISBN 9780813214573.
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| Peoples and polities | ||
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Sources
editmain sources
editLarkin's works
edit- Larkin, Emmet (1984). The Historical Dimensions of Irish Catholicism. Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 9780813205946.
- Larkin, Emmet (Spring 2014). "The Beginnings of the Devotional Revolution in Ireland: The Parish Mission Movement, 1825-1846". New Hibernia Review. 18 (1): 74–92. doi:10.1353/nhr.2014.0019. ISSN 1534-5815.
journals
edit- Barr, Colin (Winter 2020). "The Devotional Revolution in Greater Ireland". New Hibernia Review. 24 (4): 79–97. doi:10.1353/nhr.2020.0046. ISSN 1534-5815.
- Carroll, Michael P. (September 1995). "Rethinking Popular Catholicism in Pre-Famine Ireland". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 34 (3): 354–365. doi:10.2307/1386884. JSTOR 1386884.
- Connolly, S. J. (2004). "The Moving Statue and the Turtle Dove: Approaches to the History of Irish Religion". Irish Economic & Social History. 31 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1177/033248930403100101. ISSN 2050-4918.
- Cooke, Colm (1980). "The Modern Irish Missionary Movement". Archivium Hibernicum. 35: 234–246. doi:10.2307/25487428. ISSN 0044-8745. JSTOR 25487428. (online-only access)
- Delay, Cara (2004). "The Devotional Revolution on the Local Level: Parish Life in Post-Famine Ireland". U.S. Catholic Historian. 22 (3): 41–60. JSTOR 25154919.
- Delay, Cara (2014). "'Language Which Will Move Their Hearts': Speaking Power, Performance, and the Lay-Clerical Relationship in Modern Catholic Ireland". Journal of British Studies. 53 (2): 426–452. doi:10.1017/jbr.2014.7. ISSN 1545-6986.
- Godson, Lisa (2016). "Charting the material culture of the 'Devotional Revolution': the Advertising Register of the Irish Catholic Directory, 1837–96". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 116C: 265–294. doi:10.1353/ria.2016.0006. ISSN 2009-0048.
- Godson, Lisa (October 2023). "Bodily-Material Culture Techniques in the Spaces of the Devotional Revolution". Journal of Victorian Culture. 28 (4): 613–621. doi:10.1093/jvcult/vcad009. ISSN 1750-0133.
- Henderson, Stuart (November 2019). "Religion and Development in Post-Famine Ireland". The Economic History Review. 72 (4): 1251–1285. doi:10.1111/ehr.12815. ISSN 1468-0289.
- Kanter, Douglas (Winter 2020). "The Devotional Revolution at Fifty". New Hibernia Review. 24 (4): 51–61. doi:10.1353/nhr.2020.0044. ISSN 1534-5815.
- McGrath, Thomas (1991). "The Tridentine Evolution of Modern Irish Catholicism, 1563–1962: A Re-examination of the 'Devotional Revolution' Thesis". Recusant History. 20 (4): 512–523. doi:10.1017/S0034193200005598. ISSN 2055-7981.
- McMahon, Timothy (May 2007). "Religion and Popular Culture in Nineteenth-Century Ireland". History Compass. 5 (3): 845–864. doi:10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00425.x. ISSN 1478-0542.
- Miller, David W. (1975). "Irish Catholicism and the Great Famine". Journal of Social History. 9 (1): 81–98. JSTOR 3786692.
- Murphy, James (Winter 2020). "Lazarists/Vincentians: Tridentine Reform and Parish Missions in Grand Siècle France and Cardinal Cullen's Ireland". New Hibernia Review. 24 (4): 62–78. doi:10.1353/nhr.2020.0045. ISSN 1534-5815.
- Newsinger, John (1995). "The Catholic Church in Nineteenth-Century Ireland". European History Quarterly. 25 (2): 247–267. doi:10.1177/026569149502500204. ISSN 1461-7110.
book chapters
edit- Roddy, Sarah (2024). "Catholic Ireland and the Devotional Revolution". In Ganiel, Gladys; Holmes, Andrew R. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Modern Ireland. Oxford University Press. pp. 36–52. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198868699.013.23. ISBN 9780191905162. - see references & suggested reading at end
whole books
edit- Bowen, Desmond (1983). Paul Cardinal Cullen and the Shaping of Modern Irish Catholicism. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 0889201366.
- Connolly, Sean (1982). Priests and People in Pre-Famine Ireland. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 9780312644116.
- Inglis, Tom (1987). Moral Monopoly: The Catholic Church in Modern Irish Society. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 0717114996.
- Keenan, Desmond J. (1983). The Catholic Church in Nineteenth-Century Ireland: A Sociological Study. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 0717111962.
women & gender
edit- Clarke, Brian (1993). "The Parish and the Hearth: Women's Confraternities and the Devotional Revolution". Piety and Nationalism: Lay Voluntary Associations and the Creation of an Irish-Catholic Community in Toronto, 1850-1895. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 62–96. doi:10.1515/9780773564367-007. ISBN 9780773564367.
- Delay, Cara (2019). Irish Women and the Creation of Modern Catholicism, 1850–1950. Manchester University Press. doi:10.7765/9781526136404. ISBN 9781526136404.
- Delay, Cara (Winter 2020). "Gender, Sexuality, and the Devotional Revolution in Ireland". New Hibernia Review. 24 (4): 98–121. doi:10.1353/nhr.2020.0047. ISSN 1534-5815.
- Delay, Cara (2018). "Holy Water and a Twig: Catholic Households and Women's Religious Authority in Modern Ireland". Journal of Family History. 43 (3): 302–319. doi:10.1177/0363199018763831. ISSN 1552-5473.
- Peckham Magray, Mary (1998). The Transforming Power of the Nuns: Women, Religion, and Cultural Change in Ireland, 1750-1900. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780195112993.001.0001. ISBN 9780197717424.