When Derek Scally returns to the parish in which he grew up on Dublin's northside, the dwindling power of the Catholic Church in Ireland is undeniable. The once-packed church where he served mass as an altar boy is quiet and aging like its congregants. This radical shift happened within a generation. The institution's fate in the hands of the next is even more precarious. Catholicism and Irishness have long been intertwined so now with its swift decline, is Ireland suffering an identity crisis?
Sorrowful Mystery seeks to understand the beast that was Catholic Ireland- from its origins in the days of nationalism to its stronghold in the new State, to how the collective population sustained it and ultimately brought it down. Deemed 'the most Catholic country in the world' by Rome, Ireland shaped its own unique version of Catholicism and embedded it into the Republic's foundations.
Now, having been rocked by scandal after scandal, the country has pointed the finger solely at the Church and failed to contend with a tough but crucial aspect of this long history of cultural dominance- why did we give these figures such power and untouchable status in the first place? And why did it take so long for the truth to topple them?
In Sorrowful Mystery, Derek Scally grapples with these questions, conducting fresh research and exclusive interviews. This is essential reading for all of us trying to figure out who we are as a country now that that pillar has crumbled.
