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Pearse and the Church

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  • 29-03-2013 10:08am
    #1
    Professor Xavier
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 24 ✭


    Does anyone know what kind of relationship Pearse had with the church and what his views were? Were any of the leaders anti clerical or devout Catholics?


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    #2
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,056 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Professor Xavier wrote: »
    Does anyone know what kind of relationship Pearse had with the church and what his views were? Were any of the leaders anti clerical or devout Catholics?
    He was a conventionally pietistic Catholic but he had a low regard for the church hierarchy. In other words, he was keen on Catholicism but not so keen on the church.


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    #3
    Professor Xavier
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 24 ✭Professor Xavier


    Thanks. Did Pearse chose Easter as an attempt to alter the meaning of easter or was this date just a coincidence?


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    #4
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,056 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    He chose it, if I recall correctly, because it was a four-day weekend and he expected - correctly - that a lot of army officers would be away on leave, and the army units in Dublin would be at minimal strength.

    He may also have hoped to evoke the symbolism of Easter and associate it with national resurgence. But I think it would be going a bit far to say that he hoped to "change the meaning of Easter". At most, he hoped capitalise on the meaning of Easter. But, if this was part of his motivation at all, it was a distant second to the hope of catching army units in a state of unreadiness.


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    #5
    Pompey Magnus
    Registered Users Posts: 5,406 ✭✭✭Pompey Magnus


    Professor Xavier wrote: »
    Does anyone know what kind of relationship Pearse had with the church and what his views were? Were any of the leaders anti clerical or devout Catholics?

    De Valera and Terence McSweeney refused to join the I.R.B because of the Catholic Church's prohibition on oath bound secret societies, so presumably Pearse and the other members of the I.R.B felt less bound by the Church in this regard at least.

    P.S. O'Hegarty was on the Supreme Council of the IRB and he wrote that most of the other members were anti clerical to some extent, but not atheist.


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    #6
    thecommietommy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 564 ✭✭✭thecommietommy


    Pompey Magnus wrote: »
    De Valera and Terence McSweeney refused to join the I.R.B because of the Catholic Church's prohibition on oath bound secret societies, so presumably Pearse and the other members of the I.R.B felt less bound by the Church in this regard at least.

    P.S. O'Hegarty was on the Supreme Council of the IRB and he wrote that most of the other members were anti clerical to some extent, but not atheist.
    Sinn Fein recieved nothing but criticism from the Catholic Church even pre 1916, go back to when they stood in the North Leitrim by-election in 1908 and they were denounced by the usual sources, Catholic church, Irish Independent, Irish Times etc. Redmond and the IPP on the other hand were indeed the Catholic Church's willing puppets, an aspect of the IPP that is often overlooked.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Leitrim_(UK_Parliament_constituency)


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    #7
    Pompey Magnus
    Registered Users Posts: 5,406 ✭✭✭Pompey Magnus


    thecommietommy wrote: »
    Sinn Fein recieved nothing but criticism from the Catholic Church even pre 1916, go back to when they stood in the North Leitrim by-election in 1908 and they were denounced by the usual sources, Catholic church, Irish Independent, Irish Times etc. Redmond and the IPP on the other hand were indeed the Catholic Church's willing puppets, an aspect of the IPP that is often overlooked.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Leitrim_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

    As O' Hegarty put it:

    "I don't hold that the priests are our natural enemies but I do think strongly that they have acquired the habit and that nothing but strong determined actions will break them of it. They ruined every movement - directly or indirectly - since the passing of the Maynooth Grant in 1795 and we have to put them in their places if we are going to do anything."


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    #8
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,664 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    On topic, my reading of some of Pearse's writing show him making use of Catholic imagery and themes, so I'd reckon he ticked the boxes for being influenced by Church Doctrine. In general the Church would have been loath to support inserectionalist movements and instead engage in dialog with ruling government powers for the very understandable reason that conflict benefits few, and certainly not the poor sections of society.


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