Catholic Revival in the North of Ireland, 1603-41

The resurgence of the Catholic Church is central to the religious history of early modern Ireland. Covering the crucial years between its post-war trauma in 1603, to its vigorous condition by the 1641 rising, this book explores that process within the ecclesiastical province of Armagh, embracing both Ulster and the northern Pale.Northern Irish resentment at the structures of the Church of Ireland throws light on Catholic success in plantation Ulster. Continentally-trained priests, secular and religious, contributed much to the revival, but they faced considerable opposition from traditionalist clergy. In the Pale, the close alliance of these clergy with the landed and urban elites enabled the Catholic community to withstand the state’s religious coercion which was prevalent down to about 1620. Thereafter, building on educational links with the Continent established since the 1590s, the Catholic Church, although living with the internal tension between older and newer strands, was able to adopt a more vibrant and assertive role.