ABSTRACT
The 1859 revival has been granted a special place in Ulster's religious history. It is most often portrayed as a spontaneous and dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit, leading to the conversion of many thousands of men and women, and resulting in the moral and social reformation of a formerly sinful society. The dramatic, visible and well-publicised nature of religious activity in 1859 serves to highlight the more controversial aspects of that faith, and indicates the degree of adjustment made by churchmen and laity to a movement which largely ignored conventional ecclesiastical and social boundaries. This chapter analyses the impact of the events of 1859 on Ulster society. It considers its significance in the light of modern sociological approaches to the study of revivalism. The revival's emphasis on moral reformation also reflected the cultural values of respectable Protestantism.
