Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #685582 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

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.

Customer Reviews

Biography of a monster.
A book for which "know thy enemy" was designed for.

This book is a must-read along with the book "Preventing the Future" by Tom Garvin and "De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow" by Tim Pat Coogan.

Ireland was taken over by the Catholic Taliban post 1922 and still bears the scars today. In order to mature as a nation Ireland needs to learn from the mistakes and deception of the past. The Catholic Church is still powerful but not because of faith but because it dictated the 1938 constitution and McQuaid had a perverse and sick desire to micromanage every aspect of his "flock's" lives. McQuaid and his ilk are as guilty of crimes against humanity and as calcuating as Hitler and had the same control over the Irish people as the Third Reich.

The first step in enlightnment and maturing as a nation is to learn about who and what shaped the present and take steps to stop this cult of personality persisting into the future. I fear that this will not happen in the current era.

Few books have made me physically angry when I bought them like this one but it is important to learn about what you do not like in order to create a future in the way that you want it and the way it should be.