They begin by situating the poet and his/her background and influences.
So, this is a balanced and well-argued Introduction that sets the tone for what is to follow.ĦThe individual chapters are very well researched and thought through. Beckett’s comment about poetry being analogous to prayer is quoted and the author rightly points out how Catholicism formed part of the dominant culture of the poets and entered their artistic mindset almost by osmosis. His real target was not so much the Catholic Church as the paralysis that it helped to induce in Irish people. Reference is made to the way Joyce abandoned Catholicism to adopt the religion of art and yet continued to make use of his religious training in his work – quotes from Augustine abound in Joyce and his anti-clericalism was often more of a mask than a sincerely held belief. Coming as this did from a practicing Catholic and the leader of a centre-right party traditionally considered close to the Catholic Church, made Kenny’s intervention all the more remarkable and highlighted the hugely changed religious landscape in Ireland.ģThe poets dealt with in this study drew “imaginative sustenance” from the Catholic atmosphere in which they grew up, as Auge so correctly states:ĤHowever divergent their poetic styles may be, a common pattern persists: a demythologizing critique of some elemental feature of Irish Catholicism – the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist, the pilgrimages to holy wells and Lough Derg, the worshipping of relics and adoration of the Blessed Virgin, the imperative to self-sacrifice, the narrowly patriarchal nature of the institution – elicits, in turn, a radical reshaping of these traditional religious phenomena (3).ĥThis analysis reveals a commentator who is well-attuned to his subject and who is capable of expressing his views in a clear, accessible and insightful manner. The Cloyne Report in 2011 added more fuel to an already overheated fire and it prompted an unprecedented attack in Dáil Éireann by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who accused the Vatican of frustrating “an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic”. 2009 is cited as the year when both the Ryan and the Murphy Reports were published, with disastrous consequences for the reputation of the Catholic Church. The clerical abuse scandals have left their mark, as have the various Reports that emerged in their wake. Most would be what we describe as “lapsed Catholics” but, as is so often the case, the memories from the past nurtured their art and Catholicism was the language of their youth, something that could not be dispensed with lightly.ĢThe Introduction sets out its stall in a clear manner, discussing the way in which Ireland has moved from being a very religious country to one where Catholicism is now “an increasingly endangered species”. What is admirable also is the way in which each poet is situated in relation to the socio-religious context in which he/she wrote. The overall impression given as one reads through the chapters is that the author has a genuine feeling for the Catholic sensibility of the writers which leads them to incorporate rituals, beliefs and practices from their religious background into their work. Clearly, you have in this choice a mixture of highly decorated figures, one a Nobel Laureate, and some less well-established voices, although all extremely well-established among the reading public. 1In this most welcome and insightful book of essays, Andy Auge sets about analysing the role of Catholicism in the work of 7 modern Irish poets: Austin Clarke, Patrick Kavanagh, John Montague, Seamus Heaney, Eiléan N í Chuilleanáin, Paul Durcan and Paula Meehan.