Sir, – Congratulations for publishing Fr Chris Hayden's analysis of the many positive aspects resulting from the spread of Christianity to Ireland by St Patrick ("Untrue to state that St Patrick brought misery to Ireland", Opinion & Analysis, March 17th).
It has become fashionable (with some justification) to focus exclusively on the faults of St Patrick's successors, but Fr Hayden's article reminds us that the story is much more complex. Alan Jerrold ( March 19th) is undoubtedly correct in identifying the dangers of Christianity becoming "institutionalised", "respectable" and too closely associated with the state. We all know where that led. – Yours, etc,
ERIC CONWAY,
Navan,
Co Meath.
Sir, – Alan Jerrold, explaining why people would think that Christianity brought misery to Ireland, writes that: “After the founding of the Irish State, the Catholic Church, with the co-operation of successive governments, imposed a type of Catholic fundamentalism, which attempted to dictate to everyone in the State, regardless of religious persuasion or none.”
We constantly hear the claim that the church ruled with an iron fist over post-independence Ireland, but this overlooks the fact that the Irish people themselves were overwhelmingly Catholic, and enthusiastically so.
The notorious censorship of books (who takes literature so seriously these days?) was the result of pressure from the public. The Protestant minority was mostly in sympathy with the social conservatism of the Catholic majority, despite the occasional Seanad speech by WB Yeats (whose political views as a whole would not be very palatable to those who see him as a forerunner of the “liberal agenda”).
If post-independence Ireland was a “theocracy”, it was a “theocracy” by popular demand. – Yours, etc,
MAOLSHEACHLANN
Ó CEALLAIGH,
Ballymun,
Dublin 11.