Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland, 1600-1998

the long version

This book provides an authoritative and topical assessment of four centuries of religious strife in Northern Ireland and presents proposals for better intercommunity relations in the future. 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. -- Publisher description