This work sets out to delineate the history of identity formation in the Irish context, as this unfolds from the middle ages to the present. Not only is the question of identity made complex by repeated invasions of Ireland it was compounded by the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. From that time Catholicism was often embraced as a badge of resistance to the English and British Protestant presence in Ireland. This gives rise to questions of identity formation as an historical construct to meet contingent political realities, which are then read back into the historical narrative for po ... More

This work sets out to delineate the history of identity formation in the Irish context, as this unfolds from the middle ages to the present. Not only is the question of identity made complex by repeated invasions of Ireland it was compounded by the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation. From that time Catholicism was often embraced as a badge of resistance to the English and British Protestant presence in Ireland. This gives rise to questions of identity formation as an historical construct to meet contingent political realities, which are then read back into the historical narrative for political or propaganda purposes. The fluidity of Irish identity historically is witnessed by the incorporation into the culture of those arriving from other parts of Europe, who then became stakeholders in Irish society. However, from the sixteenth century what became paradigmatic was the struggle against English and Protestant influence. Given this was the labelling process of ‘Irish Catholic’ simply a negative construct? If so did this remain as the delimiting model for identity from the Reformation to the present? These and cognate questions, having given due weight to other processes at work in earlier stages of Irish history, form the context for the chapters in this volume. The subject is explored from historical, literary, and theological perspectives.