Study of Religions in Ireland

Brendan McNamara is a lecturer in the study of religions at University College Cork, Ireland.Hazel O'Brien is a lecturer in sociology at South East Technological University, Ireland.

• Preface, Brendan McNamara (University College Cork, Ireland) and Hazel O’Brien (Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland)Part I: Disciplinary Overview of the Study of Religions in Ireland1. The Study of Religions in Ireland – an Entangled History, Alexandra Grieser (Trinity College Dublin) and Brian Bocking (Professor Emeritus at University College Cork, Ireland)2. Historical Perspectives: Irish Nationalist Women’s Religious and Political Revolutions, Amy Heath Carpentier (Washington University, USA) 3. Reflections on Irish Folklore and Religion, Sile De Cleir (University of Limerick, Ireland)4. The Academic Discipline of Religious Education at Primary Level in Ireland, Patricia Kieran (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland)5. Understanding the Sociology of Religion in Contemporary Ireland, Ganiel Gladys (Queens University, Belfast, UK)Part II. Themes in the Contemporary Study of Religions in Ireland6. Esotericism, Romantic Nationalism, and the Birth of the Irish State, Jenny Butler (University College Cork, Ireland)7. Affirmations of Irishness: Traversing the Contours of Irish Protestant Identity, Deirdre Nutall (Independent Researcher, Ireland) and Tony Walsh (Maynooth University, Ireland)8. Situating New Religious Movements in Contemporary Ireland, Vesna Malesevic (NUI Galway, Ireland)9. Migrant Religions and the Irish State, Abel Ugba (University of Leeds, UK)10. Irish Catholicism: Where has it Been and Where is it Going?, Brian Conway (Maynooth University, Ireland)11. Thinking beyond the Island: Buddhism, Ireland and Method in the Study of Religions, Laurence Cox (Maynooth University, Ireland) and Brian Bocking (Professor Emeritus at University College Cork, Ireland)Postface, Mapping the Religious Field in Ireland, Tom Inglis (Professor Emeritus University College Dublin, Ireland)BibliographyIndex

The editors of The Study of Religions in Ireland are to be congratulated. As someone who researches Irish religious history, it often seems that most books on religion in Ireland focus solely on Catholic and Protestant Christianity. The rich variety of approaches in this fine collection contributes to a holistic, balanced view of religious studies in Ireland.