Abstract
While the Irish religious landscape is “post-Catholic,” religion still matters on both sides of the border. Declining religious influence is explained through the lens of the church abuse crisis, while also considering factors like economic growth, increased religious pluralism, societal liberalization, and the end of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The latter remains less secularized than the Republic of Ireland, as confirmed by higher levels of religiosity and closer church–government relations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though relations within Northern Ireland and between the Irish and British governments have been strained since the Brexit referendum, religion is no longer a barrier to Irish unification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 89-94 |
| Journal | Current History |
| Volume | 124 |
| Issue number | 860 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01 Mar 2025 |
Publications and Copyright Policy
This work is licensed under Queen’s Research Publications and Copyright Policy.Keywords
- Religion
- Ireland
- Catholic
- Post-Catholic
- Northern Ireland
- Covid-19
- Secularization
- Church abuse
Access to Document
- Ireland is post-Catholic, but religion still matters
Copyright 2025 the authors. This is an accepted manuscript distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.