"In this volume a group of scholars explore two powerful and controversial hypotheses advanced by the University of Chicago historian Emmet Larkin in the course of his career-long study of the Roman Catholic church in nineteenth-century Ireland." "J. S. Donnelly, Jr, T. W. Heyck, J. L. Altholz and the two editors themselves reflect on various implications of Larkin's 'Devotional Revolution' thesis which argues that it was only in the mid nineteenth century that the church made 'practising Catholics' of the Irish people." "J. J. Lee, Donal Kerr, H. F. Kearney, G. I. Bernstein, L. W. McBride and F. A. Biletz deal with issues arising out of his 'Church, State and Nation' thesis which suggests that several decades before an Irish state achieved de jure independence the church had entered into a 'concordat' with a de facto Irish state. I. J. McCaffrey and Helen Mulvey contribute a memoir and bibliography of the honouree."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved