roc_abilly
Member
It is indeed striking how in the NP, Catholicism plays a central role.
"Romantic Ireland's dead and gone. It's with O'Leary in the grave."
Of course John O'Leary was an Irish Nationalist whose vision of Nationalism was opposed to the existence of religious biases in Irish public life. (This of course made him very unpopular with the Catholic Church).
Whereas what was the Nationalism we got in the end? It was a Nationalism built on Catholic institutional ideals shaping Irish education, ethics, and morals, including conceptions of human liberty etc.
It was a Nationalism that refused to tolerate any relegation of the Church to any comparatively marginal position in Irish public life.
And in fact, once the Irish Catholic church allied itself with Irish Nationalism after Catholic emancipation, the secular Nationalist tradition was continually condemned even as a form of terror in the Nationalist propaganda (they based this claim on the French Revolution and Nationalists’ and Republicans’ curtailment of the Church’s educational influence throughout Europe at the time).
Anyway, Yeats' John O’Leary saw religion as the primary factor in creating the two rival Nationalisms, and the denominational education that transpired from it. Whereas he sought to create an Irish public opinion that was ‘kindly Irish of the Irish', not sectarian, inclusive of everyone.
(As I have pointed out before, to hold an opinion ‘kindly Irish of the Irish' is not a function of skin colour or religion, or any externality like that, it is more a function of relating to the Irish mindset which I believe is primarily found in the idioms of our national language, and in the "tools" that Irish offers you to express what you see, what you think, what may exist or not exist of reality; and that are markedly different to the "tools" of English and more modern languages. It is a public opinion regarding of our old books, the old rhythms of our language, the complex, subtle, nuances of the Gaelic mind as opposed to the English mind etc...)
Whereas parties like the odious "National Party" insist on putting sectarianism and Catholicism front and centre - never mind their lowborn and divisive emphasis on externalities like skin colour or what they call "race" etc.
Has not sectarianism and catholicism done enough damage to this country already? I.e. From our Catholic schooling and our Catholic institutions; to the abuses that occurred under same; to the partition that the two rival nationalisms inevitably created; to DeValera's Ireland of twitching windows; and the incompetence, dishonesty and cutehoorism that being in thrall to the institutions of the church and parish pump engendered?
Yet it continues. Anyone who joins with or supports the NP need a good kick up the hole.
"Romantic Ireland's dead and gone. It's with O'Leary in the grave."
Of course John O'Leary was an Irish Nationalist whose vision of Nationalism was opposed to the existence of religious biases in Irish public life. (This of course made him very unpopular with the Catholic Church).
Whereas what was the Nationalism we got in the end? It was a Nationalism built on Catholic institutional ideals shaping Irish education, ethics, and morals, including conceptions of human liberty etc.
It was a Nationalism that refused to tolerate any relegation of the Church to any comparatively marginal position in Irish public life.
And in fact, once the Irish Catholic church allied itself with Irish Nationalism after Catholic emancipation, the secular Nationalist tradition was continually condemned even as a form of terror in the Nationalist propaganda (they based this claim on the French Revolution and Nationalists’ and Republicans’ curtailment of the Church’s educational influence throughout Europe at the time).
Anyway, Yeats' John O’Leary saw religion as the primary factor in creating the two rival Nationalisms, and the denominational education that transpired from it. Whereas he sought to create an Irish public opinion that was ‘kindly Irish of the Irish', not sectarian, inclusive of everyone.
(As I have pointed out before, to hold an opinion ‘kindly Irish of the Irish' is not a function of skin colour or religion, or any externality like that, it is more a function of relating to the Irish mindset which I believe is primarily found in the idioms of our national language, and in the "tools" that Irish offers you to express what you see, what you think, what may exist or not exist of reality; and that are markedly different to the "tools" of English and more modern languages. It is a public opinion regarding of our old books, the old rhythms of our language, the complex, subtle, nuances of the Gaelic mind as opposed to the English mind etc...)
Whereas parties like the odious "National Party" insist on putting sectarianism and Catholicism front and centre - never mind their lowborn and divisive emphasis on externalities like skin colour or what they call "race" etc.
Has not sectarianism and catholicism done enough damage to this country already? I.e. From our Catholic schooling and our Catholic institutions; to the abuses that occurred under same; to the partition that the two rival nationalisms inevitably created; to DeValera's Ireland of twitching windows; and the incompetence, dishonesty and cutehoorism that being in thrall to the institutions of the church and parish pump engendered?
Yet it continues. Anyone who joins with or supports the NP need a good kick up the hole.