Evangelism
The French Revolution had led to a counter revolutionary religious zeal and a growth in the Protestant evangelical movement (Moffitt, 2008). The movement, which became known as 'The Second Reformation' and caused 'The Bible Wars', proved extremely divisive in Newport.
The evangelical Protestant movement had started with the Methodists in the late seventeen hundreds. Many different societies were set up by the various Protestant churches to convert and reform Irish Catholics. Conversion to Protestantism, they believed, would produce well-behaved, industrious citizens and solve the Irish problem. Some Protestants viewed the potato blight as a punishment sent by God on Irish Catholics. They believed that the Famine was providential and should be used for the transformation of Catholics into decent Protestant British subjects (Stitt, 2005). Christine Kinealy in A Death Dealing Famine (p.107) quotes The Northern Whig of 1847, which referred to the Famine as 'the present favourable crises', an opportunity ' for bringing the light of the Gospels to the darkened minds of the Roman Catholic peasantry'. Missionaries provided basic food and parents were induced to attend bible-reading classes and send their children to Protestant schools. A parish priest in the Tuam diocese reported to Archbishop Murray of Dublin 'It cannot be wondered if a starving people be perverted in shoals, especially as they (the proselytisers) go from cabin to cabin and when they find the inmates naked and starved to death, they proffer food, money and raiment, on the express condition of becoming members of their conventicle' (Moffitt, 2008, p. 23) Evangelists regarded Popery as the main cause of the ignorance, poverty and rebelliousness of the Irish (Whelan, 2005). Thousands of pounds were collected for the conversion of the heathen Irish by a variety of different societies. Efforts were concentrated in central Dublin and in the Tuam diocese, particularly in Connemara and Achill (Whelan, 2005). They chose the Tuam diocese as the starting point for the evangelical mission, because of its poverty and because of its dearth of primary schools and priests. |
The Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, John Mac Hale, had refused to comply with Government policy on primary education, as it would not have been under the control of the Catholic Church, but had failed to provide an alternative Catholic education system (Barr, 2014). More concerned with political than diocesan issues, he had also failed to provide enough priests for the religious needs of his congregation. Many bishops and priests did not agree with Mac Hale, which caused dissension within the Catholic Church.
The void in education and infrastructure in Tuam was filled by the Protestant missionary societies, which soon came into conflict with the Catholic Church (Moran, 1986). The missionary societies dispensed food, clothing and blankets to the Famine victims. They started industrial schools that taught girls to knit and sew and provided wool and flax for them to make clothes (Kinealy, 2008). The Achill Mission also provided a medical clinic and brought the first doctor to Achill Island. Accusations of souperism were made against them which they vehemently denied, Moffitt, 2008), claiming that their charitable and religious functions were totally separate. Moffat argues that the Famine 'was seen by some Protestants as an opportunity to launch a fresh onslaught on Roman Catholicism' (p.10), while Whelan states that 'the eradication of Catholicism became the driving force of the evangelical mission in Ireland' (p.267).The evangelists claimed that their work was hampered by assaults and intimidation, instigated by the Catholic clergy, an accusation also vehemently denied. The evangelists provided education and aid in a severely disadvantaged area. While they were evidently sincere and well meaning, they wre also prejudiced, self righteous and bigotted. They caused dissention between and within the churches. Click HERE for Information on The Achill Mission |