The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, Volume III Relief, Revolution, and Revival, 1746-1829

by Chambers, Liam

• ISBN13: 9780198843443
• ISBN10: 0198843445
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780192581501
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-01-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The third volume of The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism examines the period from the defeat of the Jacobite army at the battle of Culloden in 1746 to the enactment of Catholic emancipation in 1829.

The first part of the volume offers a chronological overview tracing the decline of Jacobitism, the easing of penal legislation which targeted Catholics, the complex impact of the French Revolution, the debates about the place of Catholics in the post-Union state, and - following the mass mobilisation of Irish Catholics - the passage of emancipation. The second part of the volume shows that this political history can only be properly understood with reference to the broader transformations that occurred in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The period witnessed the expansion of Catholic infrastructure (pastoral structures, chapel building, elementary education and finances) and changes in Catholic practice, for example in liturgy and devotion. The growing infrastructure and more public profession of Catholicism occurred in a society where anti-Catholicism remained a force, but the volume also addresses the accommodations and interactions with non-Catholics that attended daily life. Crucially, the transformations of this period were international, as well as national.

The volume examines the British and Irish convents, colleges, friaries and monasteries on the continent, especially during the events of the 1790s when many institutions closed and successor or new ones emerged at home. The international dimensions of British and Irish Catholicism extended beyond Europe too as the British Empire expanded globally, and attention is given to the involvement of British and Irish Catholics in imperial expansion. This volume addresses the literary, intellectual and cultural expressions of Catholicism in Britain and Ireland. Catholics produced a rich literature in English, Irish, Scots Gaelic and Welsh, although the volume shows the disparities in provision. They also engaged with and participated in the Catholic Enlightenment, particularly as they grappled with the challenges of accommodation to a Protestant constitution. This also had consequences for the public expression of Catholicism and the volume concludes by exploring the shifting expression of belief through music and material culture.

Author Biography

Liam Chambers, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of History, Mary Immaculate College

Liam Chambers completed a BA, MA and PhD at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (now Maynooth University). He joined the Department of History at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, in 2000 where he has been a senior lecturer and head of the Department of History since 2011. Chambers's research explores aspects of eighteenth-century Irish history; Irish migration to early modern Europe; the history of Catholicism; Irish students, and clergy and colleges in early modern Paris. He was a joint editor of Irish Historical Studies from 2016 to 2021 and is a current member of the Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Table of Contents

1. Jacobitism, Loyalty, and the State, 1746-66, Carys Brown
2. Breakthrough: The First Phase of Catholic Relief in Britain and Ireland, 1766-89, James Kelly
3. British and Irish Catholics in the Era of the French Revolution, Marianne Elliott
4. Catholics in the United Kingdom, 1800-20, Michael Mullett
5. 'The abominable Cath. Quest.': Catholic Emancipation, 1820-30
6. The Infrastructure of Catholicism, Cormac Begadon
7. Catholic Belief and Practice, Peter Phillips
8. Anti-Catholicism and Protestant Relations with Catholics, Colin Haydon
9. Anti-Catholicism and Protestant Relations with Catholics, Tonya J. Moutray
10. Colleges, Seminaries and Male Religious Houses, Liam Chambers
11. 'Every Quarter of the World': Catholics in the British Empire, Dominic Aidan Bellenger
12. Catholic Literature and Print Culture in English, Michael Tomko
13. Catholic Literature and Literary Culture in Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish, Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh
14. This Side of the Alps: The Catholic Enlightenment in Britain and Ireland, Shaun Blanchard
15. Church Music: A Barometer of Social-Religious Change, Thomas Muir
16. Feeble References: Catholic Material Culture, Carol Richardson