Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland, 1600–1998

Download or read book Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland, 1600–1998 written by J. Brewer and published by Springer. This book was released on 1998-09-07 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anti-Catholicism forms part of the dynamics to Northern Ireland's conflict and is critical to the self-defining identity of certain Protestants. However, anti-Catholicism is as much a sociology process as a theological dispute. It was given a Scriptural underpinning in the history of Protestant-Catholic relations in Ireland, and wider British-Irish relations, in order to reinforce social divisions between the religious communities and to offer a deterministic belief system to justify them. The book examines the socio-economic and political processes that have led to theology being used in social closure and stratification between the seventeenth century and the present day.