Encyclopedia of Irish Spirituality [Library Binding]

Phyllis G. Jestice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Ireland's history is filled with religious riches unknown to the rest of the world. The Encyclopedia of Irish Spirituality celebrates the amazing links among Ireland's religious traditions over the ages. Despite the present-day tensions between Catholic and Protestant, the main characteristic of Irish religion has always been accommodation. Again and again, the Irish have adapted, revived, and reinterpreted their religious past, not rejected it, to create a spirituality that has a flavor all its own.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Jestice (history, Univ. of Southern Mississippi) here aspires to cover over 5000 years of Celtic and Irish spirituality and religion in a single volume. Focusing on the "continuity of religions" that have been practiced in Ireland through the centuries, she covers myths, legends, and folk beliefs as well as Christianity and contemporary New Age practices. In the process, she highlights familiar issues, places, and figures in Irish religious history. The majority of the 600 clearly written entries are one to two pages long and include references to related articles and a brief bibliography. An extensive cumulative bibliography is included at the end, and over 100 black-and-white photos accompany the text. The intertwining of Celtic practices and Christianity makes this work especially valuable, but Jestice is trying to do too much: covering several millennia and such broad topics means that some of the entries are too brief, and occasionally it is difficult to decipher whether an entry is covering Celtic or Christian practice or a combination thereof. Nevertheless, this is recommended for larger public and academic libraries or libraries with strong patron interest in Irish or New Age spirituality.
Michele McGraw, Hennepin Cty. P.L., Edina, MN.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Jestice, an assistant professor of Medieval History at the University of Southern Mississippi, has chosen to examine Irish spirituality as the accumulation of Ireland's religious past and the effect of those traditions and customs on modern Irish people. She presents 600 entries, arranged in alphabetical order and cross-referenced. A brief bibliography is provided for each entry, and the titles that are listed appear again in the general bibliography in the back of the book. A comprehensive index rounds out the volume. More than 100 photos of places, artifacts, and statues are placed throughout the text.

The entries range from a paragraph to a column in length with a very few being longer than one page. Some entries cover sites both mythical and actual, such as Connela's Well, Tara, and Uisnech and the monasteries of Clonard and Kells. Others cover ancient Celtic gods, including Lug and Medb; the four great traditional Irish feasts of Beltaine, Imbolc, Lughnasa, and Samhain; and the significance of nature and various animals. The rituals of keening, fasting, and mourning are described in the context of Irish history and social life. Individuals such as saints are listed, including St. Fursa, known for his piety, and St. Ruadan, who was renowned for his skill in cursing, as well as leaders like Henry Cooke, an influential Presbyterian minister. The discussion of broader religious and spiritual themes such as original sin, excommunication, good and evil, and individualism shows how these topics have played an important role in the construct of Irish spirituality. Overall, the encyclopedia has a stronger emphasis on ancient and medieval subjects, with much less on modern (1700 to present) topics and individuals.

There is no lack of recent publications on Irish religions and mythology for the lay reader, among them James MacKillop's Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (Oxford, 1998) and Peter Ellis's Dictionary of Irish Mythology (ABC-CLIO, 1989). This title takes a broader view and is suitable for large public and academic libraries that are in need of a fresh title for their religion sections. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 416 pages
• Publisher: ABC-CLIO; First Edition edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576071464
• ISBN-13: 978-1576071465
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,336,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than six hundred entries, February 26, 2001

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This review is from: Encyclopedia of Irish Spirituality (Library Binding)

Phyllis Jestice's Encyclopedia Of Irish Spirituality is a comprehensive survey of Ireland's religious and spiritual heritage from the megalithic tombs of prehistory down through the mythologies of the Iron Age druids, the popular traditions of magic and fairies, to the influences of the Middle Ages era of Christian saints, down to the spiritual tensions between Protestants and Catholics today. This compendium of more than six hundred entries designed for the non-specialist general reader is arranged alphabetically and focuses on the continuity of Pagan, Christian, and New Age Irish religions. This superb treatise on mythology, legend, folk belief and practice is enhanced with more than one hundred photographs and a general index. The Encyclopedia Of Irish Spirituality is a highly acclaimed and welcome addition to any personal, scholarly, and community library Irish studies and spirituality reference collection.