The varied material culture of the Congress is highly significant, including a number of large temporary structures erected for it—elaborate shrines created mainly in tenement areas of the city, and many souvenir objects. The event saw the use of cutting-edge technology, such as spectacular lighting effects, skywriting, and the largest personal-address (PA) system in the world. The scale of the International Congresses and the design of the crowd, have often been likened to European fascist spectacles of the 1930s, such as the Nuremburg rallies. A large amount of archival material exists relating to the organisation of the 1932 Congress. This is very revealing in that it shows the efforts of both the Church and State to present Ireland as being at the centre of a spiritual empire, presented as a morally superior counterweight to the British Empire. Many objects relating to the Congress also survive, including souvenirs, the original architects’ plans, radio recordings, documentary photographs, newsreels and a documentary film. A high power station was established in Athlone in 1932 to coincide with the staging of the Eucharistic Congress. 2RN, 6CK and Athlone became known as “Radio Athlone” or “Raidio Áth Luain”. Radio Athlone became known as “Radio Éireann” in 1938. Radio Éireann and Telefís Éireann were both renamed Radio Telefís Éireann (RTE) in 1966. 2RN covered the World Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932 using the new high-powered 60kw transmitter (later increased to 100 kw) installed at Athlone. Irish listeners heard the voice of John McCormack singing at High Mass. The event was also relayed by the BBC and several national stations in continental Europe. This was the largest event broadcast in the early years of Irish radio. By this time over 30,000 licences had been issued in the Irish Free State. Political historians have studied the relationship between the Irish political class and the authorities of the Catholic Church in Rome. Certain strands in 20th century Irish political history have argued that successive Irish governments have loyally followed the wishes of the Catholic Church across a variety of matters, up to and including the content of legislation in parliament. Many commentators have argued that 1930’s Ireland was less a republican democracy than a clerically dominated theocracy. Examination of the relationship between Church and State in independent Ireland has come naturally to focus on the Eucharistic Congress, given the
of Dublin, Dr Byrne, Cardinal Lauri and the Bishop of Namur. Ireland played host to literally hundreds of the Catholic Church’s most distinguished figures, figures described by the press of the time as ‘princes of the Church.’ Bishops and Cardinals from as far a field as China, Australia, Serbia, Africa and the United States enjoyed the hospitality of the Irish State in the form of the state receptions organised by the Government at Dublin Castle or the massive garden party that took place in the grounds of Blackrock College early in the week. This last event took place on a warm day under a clear blue sky and boasted a guest list of not less than 20,000 people. Though the primary events in the course of the Congress week were undoubtedly the special masses devoted to the Exposition of the Most Blessed Eucharist in churches around the country, those that travelled by special train to Dublin enjoyed the undoubted social side of the festivities. Religious adoration and social intercourse of various types had historically gone hand in hand in Ireland since the 18th century. Devotional activities brought families and communities together in a way that other events singularly failed to do. The Bishops must surely have been relieved that the Congress did not degenerate into the drunkenness and faction fighting that often marked popular devotional activities particularly in the 19th century. Catholicism had always presented itself as a creed that took a great interest in the nature of society as a whole, and as a system of values that could appeal to the individual as a member of a community bigger than him/herself. As such, in Ireland in particular, important dates in the Catholic calendar had as much a social element as they did a doctrinal one. The mass exodus from rural Ireland to Dublin during the Congress week helped to powerfully reinforce a sense of national and of course religious fraternity, helping to confirm the Irish identity as a primarily Catholic and national phenomenon. Scholars have also pointed out the extent to which the massive participation by the ‘cosmhuintir’ [the common people] in the Congress helped close many of the wounds created by the Civil War of barely a decade previous to this event. Eamon de Valera’s government allowed all sections of the people attend the Congress events, including prominent members of the previous administration. The Garda Siochána and the Irish Army performed their duties without demur, duties determined by a government whose ministers had taken up arms against these very organisations within living memory. As was the case with Gaelic games in the countryside, so too