Catholicism in Early Modern Ireland and Britain

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This article examines recent historiographical literature concerning catholicism in early modern Britain and Ireland suggesting, perhaps most surprisingly with regard to Ireland, that in general this remains a somewhat under-researched field. There has also been an unfortunate lack of cross-fertilization between the research of historians of the counter-reformation in both islands. This is particularly regrettable with regard to English historiography because the confessional strength which catholicism acquired in Ireland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was of genuine significance to developments in Britain. The counter-reformation took very different forms in Ireland and Britain. In many ways, the historiographical debate about the success or otherwise of the reformation in England and Scotland offers the most valuable comparison with early modern Irish catholicism: catholicism emerged as the most successful confession in Ireland as protestantism did in Britain, but the degree to which the process of evangelization went deeper than the mere inculcation of denominational affiliation is open to question. The second part of this article offers a brief analysis of some of the most significant developments in the recent historiography of catholicism in both islands, highlighting in particular issues of church organization, popular mentalite and print culture.