Irish Catholic
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Total population | |
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4.6 million Catholics in Ireland Unknown number of Catholics of full or partial Irish ancestry around the world, notably in the Eastern and Central United States, and Canada |
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Regions with significant populations | |
Republic of Ireland | 3,861,335 |
Northern Ireland | 738,033 |
Languages | |
Irish, English | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Irish people |
Irish Catholics are people who are Catholic and Irish.
Divisions between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants played a major role in the history of Ireland from the 16th to the 20th century, especially the Home Rule Crisis and the Troubles. While religion broadly marks the delineation of these divisions, the contentions were primarily political and related to access to power. For example, while the majority of Irish Catholics saw themselves as having an identity independent of Britain and were excluded from power, a number of the instigators in rebellions against British rule were in fact Protestant Irish nationalists, although most Irish Protestants opposed separatism. In the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Catholics and Presbyterians, who were not part of the established Church of Ireland, found common cause.
Irish Catholics are found in many countries around the world, especially in the English-speaking world. Emigration following the Famine in the late 1840s saw the population drop from over 8 million to just over 4 million. In the United States, hostility and violence towards Irish Catholics, together with Hispanic and Italian Catholics as well, were expressed through the Know Nothings and Nativist movement by the American Protestants (for future reference, see anti-Catholicism, anti-Irish sentiment, anti-Italianism, hispanophobia). Today, Irish Catholics are very well established in the United States and are part of mainstream American society.
See also[edit]
- Celtic Christianity
- Catholic Church in Ireland
- Saint Patrick's Day
- Irish American
- Irish Australian
- Irish Canadian
- Irish diaspora
- Irish migration to Britain
- Irish Newfoundlander
- Irish people
- Irish-Scots
- Know-Nothings
- Nativists
- Penal Laws
- Anti-Catholicism
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- The Irish Cultural, Political, Social, and Religious Heritages
- Ireland: The Rise of Irish Nationalism, 1801-1850
- Emigrants and Immigrants
- Communities in Conflict: American Nativists and Irish Catholics
- Irish-American Politics
- Irish America and the Course of Irish Nationalism
- From Ghetto to Suburbs: From Someplace to Noplace?
- Endnotes
External links[edit]
- Library of Congress
- The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America, describes the book ISBN 0-8132-0896-3
- St. Colman Mac Duagh (Popular Irish Catholic site)
- On Irish Catholics of Australia