An in-depth study of the most significant Irish clergyman in the history of the state. For three decades, 1940-72, as Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, John Charles McQuaid imposed his iron will on Irish politicians and instilled fear among his clergy and laity. No other churchman amassed the religious, political and social power which he exercised with unscrupulous severity. An admirer of the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover, Archbishop McQuaid built up a vigilante system that spied on politicians and priests, workers and students, doctors and lawyers, nuns and nurses, soldiers and trade unionists. There was no room for dissent when John Charles spoke in the name of Jesus Christ. This power was used to build up a Catholic-dominated state in which Protestants, Jews and feminists were not welcome.
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About the Author
John Cooney is a journalist and broadcaster based in Dublin. He is a visiting Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen and Director of the Humbert Summer School in County Mayo. A former Religious Affairs correspondent with the Irish Times, he is author of The Crozier and The Dail, Church-State in Ireland 1922-1986.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A hefty and thorough bio of a micromanaging prelate,
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This review is from: John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland (Irish Studies) (Hardcover)
Future students of management, from any field, might find much here to enjoy. This biography, admittedly massive in its investigation of every detail extant of McQ's long career, never flags, even if not all the information is scintillating. I found the humanity of the "AB" touching at moments, against the stereotype that most hold him in today, and Cooney deftly weighs the harsh legacy which ultimately weakened the Church in Ireland against the struggles McQ faced personally and professionally as his ambition to become Cardinal and primate of All-Ireland never were fulfilled. Surprising vignettes pepper the text. My two favorites: his rat-shooting skills and his questioning of clerics about what kind of underwear soldiers wore in the US Army. The sad dealings with sexual abuse do gain careful explanation here, even if the evidence IMHO is not air-tight, McQ's life does show the price paid for the Jansenist scruples inherited by his own Congregation and dictated to so many of the Irish people during his tenure. The struggles with DeValera over the Constitution of 1937 gain much scrutiny here, a very critical contributor to the social climate of mid-20c Catholic Ireland. A fine resource for scholars and an accessible read for the rest of us too!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cause or Result?,
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This review is from: John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland (Paperback)
It might not seem that the biography of a celibate clergyman could make compelling reading, except for the devout, but, as Cooney points out (quoting Russell Braddon) in his introduction, McQuaid's life has structure of a novel. It had a central conflict, rising to a triumph, followed by something that could be interpreted as a stab in the back. The forces of liberalism that he fought against, on behalf of Roman authority, took over Roman authority.
He wasted his ammunition by struggling against the tiny remnants of Protestantism in the Irish Republic. Statistics now show that the exponentially rising group in Ireland is those who have no religious affiliation. Was he the cause of the Puritanism and prohibitions that afflicted Ireland for most of the twentieth century, or was he just a product of his times ? On the evidence of this book it was something of both. Nationalist politicians needed badges of national identity to show that Ireland was a separate country. Devotion to the Roman Catholic church was something that made Ireland different, and this may have led them to emphasize the church's power. Some people say that censors must have very dirty minds, but many censors claim that they just reflect public opinion, and shield us from what we might find offensive. Most of us prefer Times Square cleaned up. He was a man of great intelligence and ability who took the power that was handed to him, and acted according to his beliefs. With that power, and those beliefs he caused, on the evidence of this book, a lot of misery. The allegations in Chapter 18 were not convincing, but I suppose the writer of a comprehensive biography had to deal with them.
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