First published in 1975. In 1869 the Church of Ireland, until then part of the Church of England, was disestablished and partially disendowed. The author traces the changes in the Church of Ireland’s organization and function and the decline of its influence and numerical size during the hundred years following disestablishment. This title will be of interest to students of nineteenth- and twentieth-century religious and social history.

For three centuries following the Reformation the Church of Ireland was the 'Established Church' (the state Church) of the country. This status was removed by the Irish Church Act of 1869 as part of Prime Minister Gladstone's policy to meet the grievances of Irish nationalists and thereby win their support for the Union with Great Britain, while at the same time addressing the resentment of other Churches who objected to the privileged position enjoyed by an Established Church that could claim the loyalty of less than 12% of the population. To mark the 150th Anniversary of Disestablishment, a development of important constitutional significance, the publication of this present collection of new essays, introduced by The Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, tells the story of major aspects of the life of the Church in the past half century - a period of remarkable societal, political and ecclesial change including, inter alia yet notably, the ordination of women to the three orders of ordained ministry within the Church of Ireland. The volume includes a diverse range of authorial voices from within the Church of Ireland 'fold' and without it, both clerical and lay; some essays are scholarly, yet in some cases conversational, while others take a historical perspective or are highly contextual and forward-looking.

First published over forty years ago and now updated to cover the “Celtic Tiger” economic boom of the 2000s and subsequent worldwide recession, this new edition of a perennial bestseller interprets Irish history as a whole. Designed and written to be popular and authoritative, critical and balanced, it has been a core text in both Irish and American universities for decades. It has also proven to be an extremely popular book for casual readers with an interest in history and Irish affairs. Considered the definitive history among the Irish themselves, it is an essential text for anyone interested in the history of Ireland.