The New Ireland and Its Sacred Cows

The Merriman Summer School, which was first held in Ennis, County Clare in 1968, has become an Irish institution with a well-earned reputation for its unique mixture of scholarship and conviviality. The 2004 Summer School theme, Orthodoxies and Heresies: The New Ireland and Its Sacred Cows, was timely as it explored a new and confident Ireland that has rejected many of its established orthodoxies and replaced them with ideas and beliefs that were earlier frequently regarded as heresies. Inevitably, the new orthodoxies will be challenged and the spiral of cut, thrust and debate will continue.

Although religion is the field primarily associated with the orthodoxy/heresy dilemma, it is not the only one in which hard and polarised positions exist. Papers delivered at the 2004 Summer School touched on such diverse areas as health care, gender, culture, sport, ageing and James Joyce! What comes through strongly in these papers is the sense that one generations heresies can become the next generations orthodoxies and yet the sacred cows of the New Ireland are no less prevalent than in the past. Contributors include Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Muiris X. Fitzgerald, Jack Finnegan, Alan Titley, Oliver Braiden, Camillus Power, Mary Davis, John FitzGerald, Ciaran Benson and Mark Patrick Hederman.

Reviews

"This book is timely for a new and confident Ireland that has rejected many of its established orthodoxies and replaced them with ideas and beliefs that, earlier, were frequently regarded as heresies. Inevitably the new orthodoxies will be challenged and the spiral of cut, thrust, debate and challenge will continue. . ." From the Preface