Heather K. Crawford returned to third-level education in the 1990s at University of the West of England at Bristol after a wide-ranging working life in Ireland, the UK and Spain. She completed her PhD thesis, 'Protestants and Irishness in independent Ireland: an exploration', at the National University of Ireland Maynooth in 2008.
Does it still matter which foot you dig with in today's Republic of Ireland? "Outside the Glow" examines the relationship between Protestants and Catholics and the notion that southern Protestants are somehow not really Irish. From extensive interviews with representatives of both confessions, Heather K. Crawford demonstrates that there are still underlying tensions between the confessions based on 'memories' of events long buried in the past. By looking at various aspects of everyday life in today's Republic - education, marriage, segregation, Irish language, social life - she shows how these residues of religious, ethnic and cultural tension suggest that to be truly Irish is to be Catholic, and that consequently Protestants - and other minorities - cannot have an authentic Irish identity.
Introduction
1 The Background
2 Segregation and Education
3 Education, Irish Language and Identity
4 Protestants and Society
5 Inter-Church Marriage
6 'There's No Such Thing as a Poor Protestant'
7 Protestants and Irishness
Notes
Bibliography
Index.
Professor R. V. Comerford and author Heather Crawford speaking at the book launch and available on the IQDA webpage:
http://www.iqda.ie/content/outside-glow-protestants-and-irishness-independent-ireland
‘You’d have thought that in 21st-century Ireland all traces of the historic antipathy shown by Catholics to Protestants would have disappeared. Surely today, it no longer matters ‘which foot you dig with’? But it does … The research shows that Protestants are not perceived to have ‘Irishness’, that certain something that says you belong; instead they are seen as somehow less than authenically Irish. The research also shows, not surprisingly, that this is resented by Protestants born, brought up and educated in the state they call home.
‘Stereotypes based on the emotional legacy of the historic emnity surface unconciously,’ the author writes, ‘reinforcing the notion that Irish national identity is unequivocally Catholic, nationalist and Gaelic.’
Irish Independent
6 March 2010
‘Outside the Glow: Protestants and Irishness in Independent Ireland … offers an incisive investigation into how the Irish Protestant community sees itself. Irish Protestants consider themselves to be Irish, Crawford argues, but perceive that those around them do not see their claim to be Irish as wholly valid. … Crawford effectively handles the myriad of social divisions and misunderstandings which put Protestants and Catholics on occasionally diverging paths in Irish society: divided education, tensions over mixed marriages, the land question and the impact of cultural nationalism on the national psyche.
In developing the theme, the author does not shy away from dealing with the issue of what she terms ‘Protestant self-marginalisation’ … In essence, there was more than mere dogma or cultural identity at stage here – it was a struggle for survival. Due to the strict requirement for non-Catholic partners of Catholics to raise their children in the Roman Catholic faith, there was a real risk that mixed-religion marriage spelt potential doom for the next generation of Irish Protestantism.
Crawford also explores the existence of networks of Protestant advancement: the practice of hiring Protestants to senior positions in companies owned by members of the same community; the advestising of vacant jobs via a notice from the rector on the pulpit, through Protestant youth clubs; or through the much distrusted Freemasons, which were primarily populated by Protestants.
The practice was not limited to Protestants and doubtlessly only mirrored what occurred among lay Catholic organisations and other denominational societies which wished to preserve the values and prominence of their cadre to the best of their ability and against what each side saw as external enemies.
The employment of anonymous contributions is a standard academic tool used to inform a qualitative study such as this. The opinions are interesting and keenly insightful, albeit weakened by their anonymity.’
Read the full article here: Review of Outside the Glow, Sunday Business Post 4 April 2010
John Burke
Sunday Business Post
4 April 2010
‘The interview material she adduces makes very clear that, at individual level, there has been a frequent sense of Protestant vulnerability, exclusion and marginalisation. Indeed, she chronicles far more ‘inter-communal harassment’ in both directions than would be assumed by those who think that sectarianism only obtains in the North.
Crawford’s book calmly deals with education, intermarriage, the Irish language and social class and the resulting account is readable and valuable.
The book argues that ‘both communities need to acknowledge, rather than deny, that inter-communal tensions remain’. Heather Crawford’s suggestion that such tensions will best be managed through ‘mutual respect’ is made all the more cogent because of the thoughtful research presented by her in this important book.’
Professor Richard English
Irish Times
10 April 2010
'Heather Crawford's study uses a skilful and fascinating blending of the tools of history and social studies to provide an engaging study of how Catholics and Protestants have interacted with each other in Ireland since the foundation of the Irish Free State.
In her extensive research and interviews, she asks whether there are still underlying tensions or emotional legacies left over from the events of the past.
And she does it with humour and with style, questioning and challenging some of the myths that still persist among some people to this day - that there is no such thing as a poor Protestant, that there is a particular Protestant work ethic, that Protestants have small families, or that many Protestants are the descendants of "planters".'
Canon Patrick Comerford
Irish Catholic
May 2010
To read the full Irish Catholic review click here
Pue’s Occurrences: the Irish History Blog review:
Link here: http://puesoccurrences.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/who-are-the-irish-review-outside-the-glow-by-heather-k-crawford/
Kevin O’Sullivan
Pue’s Occurrences: the Irish History Blog
May 2010
