WHY DO SO MANY IRISH PEOPLE STILL GO TO MASS?

Mass in the Penal Days at St. Mullins, Co. Carlow

93% of the population are Catholic and an estimated 75% go to Mass every Sunday.

The Catholic religion of the Irish people is more like a folk religion, a very important part of their national heritage. Going to Mass is an integral part of their traditional way of life. For many people, especially in rural areas, it is the main social event of the week.

In the eighteenth century, Irish Catholics risked their lives to hear Mass, which was celebrated on large flat rocks on the mountainsides or in the fields. These "Mass Rocks" are still known to local people all over the country.

Since the nineteenth century, the Church has played an authoritarian role vis-a-vis the people, insisting on submission above all. It forbade the celebration of rival, non-christian customs which had survived and actively discouraged intellectual enquiry.

The Irish are often accused of being an obedient, passive Mass-going people, too ready to accept whatever church or state (or the two together) decide.

The continuing power of the Church at national and local level, and especially in the education of children, makes it difficult for patterns to change.

Interestingly, it is only amongst the poorest sectors of the community, the urban poor, that attendance at Mass is falling dramatically at present.

Much information: The Irish Catholic

Source: Why do the Irish? by Fiana Griffin

So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 

Jesus Christ