McGill-Queen's Studies in the Hist of Re
2 total works
Deals directly with the question of whether cultural differences between Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics have had significant and casually important effects on the behaviour of the two groups. The conclusion of the author's analysis is that, based on the research of the Irish in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United States as well as in Ireland itself, there are few significant social or economic differences between the two groups. In actual fact the author found indications of fundamental similarities. In view of this observation, the author asks the question that given the demonstrated opinions of Irish Catholics and Protestants, what factors in Irish society have kept them at loggerheads? The author focuses on Irish taboos against inter-marriage, the segregation in education, and the nature of Protestant and Catholic belief.
Chosen as one of Library Journal's Best Books of 1992 "Superb scholarship and compelling writing."--Library Journal "Splendidly illuminating and enthrallingly readable."--Conor Cruise O'Brien Asserting that the dominant peoples of South Africa, Northern Ireland, and Israel have based their cultural identity on a belief in a covenant with an all-powerful God, Akenson vividly characterizes the effects of this conviction on each nation's history.