Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I: Obeying the law of God
1. In the old groove: traditional political alignments
2. The fifth commandment and the brand of Cain: condemnation from the pulpit
3. Interfering where they shouldn’t: interaction with republicans
Part II: Republican priests
4. Sinn Féin priests: support for Sinn Féin, the Dáil and local IRA units
5. Aiding and abetting: priests involved in the IRA campaign
6. Troublesome priests: responses to clerical support for republicanism
Part III: the clergy and the crown
7. Priest and victim: British measures against the clergy
8. The reign of frightfulness: clerical responses to the British campaign
9. Preserving the peace: mediation, relief work and political activism
Epilogue
Appendices
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Brian Heffernan is a University Lecturer in History at Leiden University

Reviews

'Brian Heffernan is to be highly commended for this fine study which will be a standard work on this subject for many years to come.'
J. Anthony Gaughan, The Irish Catholic, Book Review, 20 June 2014

'For those interested in the war of independence (1919-21), this is a pageturner. The author describes in considerable detail the role of priests and bishops during those revolutionary years. In so doing, he provides a valuable service. Apart from an article published more than forty years ago by Tomás Ó Fiaich, no-one has since written specifically on this subject.'

'Meticulously using both archival and newspaper resources, this worthwhile study examines and classifies the response of Catholic clergy to the post - 1918 troubles in Ireland.'
JAMES FLINT, ST PROCOPIUS ABBEY, LISLE, ILLINOIS, JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 1 April 2015

'...hugely impressive, illuminating and excellently researched book ... Heffernan has vividly filled a large gap in historical knowledge about how priests navigated exceptionally difficult circumstances and volatile times, and the book deserves wide readership. Drawing on diocesan archives, newspapers, witness statements and contemporary correspondence, Heffernan skilfully weaves these sources together into a judicious, well-written overview.' - Dairmaid Ferriter, Irish Times review. January 2016

‘A riveting publication’
Dublin Review of Books, December 2016, Thomas FitzGerald is an Irish research council scholar at Trinity College Dublin
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