Why was Ireland the only region in Europe which successfully rejected a state-imposed religion during the confessional era? This book argues that the anomalous outcome of the Reformations in Ireland was largely due to an unusual symbiosis between the Church and the old bardic order. Using sources ranging from Gaelic poetry to Jesuit correspondence, this study examines Irish religiosity in a European context, showing how the persistence of traditional culture enabled local elites to resist external pressures for reform.

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Acknowledgements - Note on Usage - Introduction: The Irish Anomaly - A Note on Sources - PART 1: TRADITION - Prologue: The Social Setting - The Bardic Tradition and Gaelic Devotional Literature - Bardic Influences on Gaelic Devotional Practices: The Pre-Reformation Institutional Church - PART 2: CONFESSIONALISM - Bards into Missionaries - The Entrenchment of a Confessional Church - Elite Religion in Seventeenth-Century Ireland - The Transformation of Traditional Religion in Ireland - Conclusion - Appendix 1: Library Lists - Appendix 2: Maps - Notes - Selected Bibliography -Index