1.1. Ireland - ‘The island of saints and scholars’ - Naturally Religious - Complex social forces - Devotion to the Catholic Church (1920-1950) - Pilgrimages to Marian shrines - Building of grottos - Practice of Novenas
2. Reasons for demise of Catholic Church
2.1. - State emphasis on economic growth - Higher education levels - General process of individualisation - Alternative messages via media which contradicted the Catholic interpretation of reality - Not necessary to negotiate salvation by means of priest (essentially a switch to Protestant type relationship between individual and God)
3. Impact and Influence
3.1. The church was also a major institutional power - Education - Family - Health - Social welfare Through its power of socialisation it also had a major influence over - Politics - Business - media
4. Changes
4.1. - Irish Catholics are bypassing the church in developing their relationship with God - They are deciding for themselves what is right and wrong - They are becoming more like Protestants - It is no longer necessary to have religious capital as part of one’s social capital to get on in Irish life
5. Secularisation
5.1. the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious (or irreligious) values and secular institutions. The secularization thesis refers to the belief that as societies "progress" particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance.
6. Doxa
6.1. Doxa refers to an ideology which cannot be challenged: - The Catholic vision of social life was good and this could not be questioned - It could not be argued for example that the church stifled economic growth in Ireland or oppressed women
