The transforming power of the nuns
Subtitle: women, religion, and cultural change in Ireland, 1750-1900
By: Mary Peckham Magray.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 182
Subjects: Monasticism and religious orders for women -- Ireland -- History -- 18th century; Monasticism and religious orders for women -- Ireland -- History -- 19th century; Ireland -- Church history -- 18th century; Ireland -- Church history -- 19th century
Description: Mary Peckham Magray argues that the Irish Catholic cultural revolution in the nineteenth century was effected not only by male elites, as previous scholarship has claimed, but also by the most overlooked and underestimated women in Ireland: the nuns. Once thought to be merely passive servants of the male clerical hierarchy, women's religious orders were in fact at the very center of the creation of a devout Catholic culture in Ireland.

Often educated, articulate, and evangelical, nuns were much more socially engaged and personally ambitious than traditional stereotypical views have held. They used their wealth and their authority to effect changes in both the religious practices and common behavior of the larger Irish Catholic population and, by doing so, Magray argues, deserve a far larger place in the Irish historical record than they have previously been accorded.

Magray's work will be of interest to scholars and students of Irish history, religious history, women's studies, and sociology.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-178) and index.