Catholics and Protestants in Ireland

• Catholic church had been persecuted under Penal Laws• Protestant Church of Ireland had been Established

(Official) Church until 1869• Majority of Catholics supported nationalist political

parties• Some protestants feared discrimination under Home

Rule (‘Home Rule is Rome Rule’)• Most unionists were protestant• Most nationalists were Catholics (but there were also

some very famous protestant nationalists)• After 1922 majority in Northern Ireland protestant • Majority of population of 26 counties of Irish Free State

were Catholics• Some saw Catholicism as a part of Irish identity

What was the ‘Eucharistic Congress’?• Every 3 or 4 years a

‘Eucharistic Congress’ was held in a different country

• Catholics organised a series of religious events to celebrate the presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Communion)

• The purpose was a gathering of lay people and clerics 'celebrating and glorifying the Holy Eucharist and of seeking the best means to spread its knowledge and love throughout the world’

Celebrating the Eucharistic Congress.

• Masses, processions, conferences and receptions, lectures, exhibtions were organised.

• Priests, bishops and cardinals and dignitaries from around the world invited to attend.

• Buildings, streets and houses were decorated and monuments were built.

Background to the 1932 Eucharistic Congress in Ireland

• 1929 was the centenary of Catholic Emancipation

• Vatican sent the 1st Papal Nuncio (ambassador) to Ireland

• Cumann na nGaedheal government open discussions with Vatican about holding Congress in Ireland

• Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) decides to have the 31st Eucharistic Congress in Ireland (1,500 years after arrival of St. Patrick in 432 AD)

The World Eucharistic Congress

Day 1: 20 June 1932

• The Papal legate Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri arrived at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

• Welcomed by President of the Dail, De Valera and Lord Mayor of Dublin Alfie Byrne.

• Cheered by crowds on way to Catholic Pro-Cathedral.

• Tens of thousand lined the streets including 36,000 schoolchildren.

His eminence, Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri, Papal Legate.

The Cardinal Legate's ship is

escorted into Dún Laoghaire

Harbour.Planes from the Irish Air Corps

formed a cross in the air .

The Legate's Ship comes alongside the jetty at Dún

Laoghaire.

The Cardinal Legate disembarks at Dun Laoghaire.

The Cardinal Legate blesses the military guard of honour.

The Lord Mayor's Heralds announce the approach of the

Cardinal Legate.

Passing through the City Gates.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin greets the Cardinal Legate at the City

Gates.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne and President De Valera welcome the Cardinal Legate.

His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland, Most

Rev. Edward J. Byrne.

Day 2: 21 June

• 200 bishops and 8 cardinals from different countries in Ireland for Eucharistic Congress

• President of Blackrock College (Father John Charles McQuaid) organises Garden Party to welcome Cardinal Lauri

• State Banquet to welcome Lauri held in Dublin Castle that evening

• Women told to ‘dress discreetly’

Blackrock College Garden Party

McQuaid, Lauri, De Valera

• Decorations, flowers, picture, banners, flags, statues were displayed on houses and buildings around Ireland.

• Special monuments (replica round towers) were built.

Round Tower at College Green

• The Government arranged for all the major buildings in the city to be lit up at night by a series of powerful spotlights and coloured lamps. The General Post Office, the Central Bank, Trinity College, Government Buildings and O’ Connell Bridge amongst other key areas were illuminated in a major feat of technological prowess during the course of the Congress week.

22 June State reception in Dublin Castle for the Papal

Legate• 20,000 Guest List

• Governor General, James Mc Neill not invited to this event (as Fianna Fail government trying to reduce the importance of this position).

Mass on O'Connell Bridge during the Eucharistic Congress, June 1932.

Accomodation

• Large camps set up in Cabra and Artane to accomodate people wishing to attend the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

• Others accomodated in national schools, libraries and town halls in and around Dublin.

• Ships (liners) used as 'floating hotels' for overseas visitors.

• Public lectures held in the Theatre Royal, the Savoy Theatre, the Mansion House and UCD.

• Exhibition on Irish missionary work held in UCD building on Stephen's Green.

Exhibitions and Lectures

Day 3: 22 June

• Formal opening of Eucharistic Congress

• Mass in St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral

• Prayers, masses and midnight masses organised all around the country

Procession in Limerick, 1932

Days 4, 5, 6: 23, 24, 25June• Thursday 23 June: Men’s

Day(procession and other events organised for men) (Men's Mass in Phoenix Park 250,000)

• Friday 24 June: Women’s Day (200,000 women at Women's Mass)

• Saturday 25 June: Children’s Day (100,000 at Children's Mass)

The last day of the Congress• 1 million attended mass in Phoenix Park

• 20,000 volunteers and 4,000 boy scouts acted as stewards at the event

• Message broadcast from Pope Pius XI

• Count John Mc Cormack sang

• Mass broadcast on radio around Ireland

• Procession of Blessed Sacrament led by Garda Comissioner Eoin O’Duffy

• Procession ended with Benediction on O’Connell Street

The Lord Mayor's coach in the Cardinal Legate's triumphal

procession

A boy scout giving out water in the Phoenix Park

Members of the Dail and Seanad at the Phoenix Park

Mass

Count John McCormack sings Panis Angelicus (Bread of the Angels) at High

Mass• John Mc Cormack

was an internationally famous singer

• He had been made a Papal count

• He sang during the mass in the Phoenix Park

Pope Pius XI addresses the faithful, 26 June 1932.

• 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.

Radio (from Cork Multitext Article)

The Cavalry Guard of the Irish Army, the

Blue Hussars.

The Blue Hussars, established in 1931, made their first public appearance at the 1932 Eucharistic Congress.

Souvenirs and Programmes

• After the Congress, Cardinal Lauri made a Freeman of Dublin in a ceremony in the Mansion House.

Lauri given Freedom of Dublin

• What role did the Irish government play in organising the Eucharistic Congress?

• What role did the Catholic Church play in organising the Eucharistic Congress?

• Did church-state relations improve?

• Did the Eucharistic Congress affect North-South relations?

• How successful was the Eucharistic Congress?

• How significant was the Eucharistic Congress?

• What did the Eucharistic Congress contribute to Irish cultural identity?

• While it was a religious event, there was significant participation by the State.

• Cosgrave's Cumann na nGaedheal government had been involved in planning the event.

• The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne, and the Head of Government (De Valera) welcomed the Papal Legate.

• The Papal Legate inspected troops from the Irish Free State Army and the Air Force of the Irish Free State accompanied the ship of the Papal Legate into Dun Laoghaire

• He took a high profile part in the main events of the Eucharistic Congress, greeting the Papal Legate in person, speaking at some length on behalf of the Government and State at various formal functions and attending all of the major masses held in the course of the week.

Boosting De Valera's profile as a leader and statesman (and a devout Catholic)

• During the Civil War many anti-treaty IRA and Sinn Fein members (including De Valera) had been excommunicated

• This was a chance to redeem their credibility as devout catholics (at a time when most voters were catholic)

• Governor-General James MacNeill about to enter the Pro-cathedral during the congress.

• There are no ministers accompanying him (a deliberate snub by de Valera’s government.)

Reducing the importance of the role of Governor General

Catholic Triumphalism?

• Did the Eucharistic Congress show the Irish Free State to be a 'Catholic State'?

• Did it make citizens of the IFS who weren't catholic feel excluded or marginalised?

Significance of Eucharistic CongressFrom Cork Multitext Article

• The Constitution of the Irish Free State (as stipulated by the 1921 Treaty) expressly forbid the new Irish Government from giving precedence to any one faith over the other, particularly as regards legislation.

• The Eucharistic Congress can be seen as an important mark on the road that would lead to the new Irish Constitution, as enacted by the people in 1937.