How a church took a grip on Irish life

Michael McDowell in Rome v Republic (RTÉ One)

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Cardinal Cullen, the man who in 19th century Ireland set in stone, literally and metaphorically, the kind of Roman Catholic Church and state in which Michael McDowell and I grew up, was remarkably perspicacious. He expressed dislike of the Home Rule movement, declaring “. . . of this I am convinced, that the first future attack on the ...