Religious Condition of Ireland 1770-1850

Nigel Yates provides a major reassessment of the religious state of Ireland between 1770 and 1850. He argues that this was both a period of intense reform across all the major religious groups in Ireland and also one in which the seeds of religious tension, which were to dominate Irish politics and society for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, were sown. He examines in detail, from a wide range of primary sources, the mechanics of this reform programmeand the growing tensions between religious groups in this period, showing how political and religious issues became inextricably mixed and how various measures that might have been taken to improve the situation were not politically or religiously possible.

...handsome volume..., Professor Yates writes with an earnest enthusiasm that sustains the reader's interest ... The study of religion in Ireland is significantly advanced by this humane and exceptional book., there is no doubt about the extent of the research and book's value as a pioneering work ... The book is attractively produced and well-written, ...the work is full of fascinating detail, much of it culled from diligent research at local level...Professor Yates studies [the period] in great and impressive detail.

Nigel Yates is Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Wales, Lampeter, and Director of the University Research Centre and Provincial Archives Adviser to the Church in Wales