Religion in Irish Literature and Culture

Counters pervasive belief that religion is declining, to establish the diverse and far-reaching forms of Irish spirituality in culture.

This interdisciplinary volume asserts the ongoing and changing role of religion in Irish culture. Offering new perspectives on canonical literature's interrogation of Christianity, and Irish culture's responses to religious history, this book also explores recent developments in Irish spirituality across a range of cultural forms.Contrary to the widespread belief in Ireland's rapid secularisation, religion continues to play a significant role in 21st-century Irish culture, though not in the familiar forms of Catholicism and Protestantism. This volume seeks to redress the balance and demonstrate that religion informs and intersects with past and present Irish culture. While religious oppression has been challenged by writers from Sean O'Casey to Edna O'Brien, Joyce's heresy, Patrick Pearse's fusion of Christian and pagan sacrifice, and Yeats's pan-Asian eclecticism are among the manoeuvres by which the Irish have sought to explore beyond the prescribed limits of spirituality. This book takes an interdisciplinary and global approach that encompasses the affinities of Celtic thought with Asian philosophy, the legacy of Irish missions in Africa, new ways to see the religiosity of canonical works, and Irish cultural engagement with traditions such as Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, and Shinto.