ABSTRACT
The Roman Catholic faith in Ireland emerged from the eras of the Penal Laws and the independence movement tenaciously bonded to the Irish people. The evolution of the Church in the late nineteenth century created a structure that was by the turn of the century profoundly hierarchical, paternal, and authoritarian. The Catholic Church is at once an institution, a theology, and a collection of individuals, leaders, and followers. The Church saw the temptations of a secular, atheistic, and modern world everywhere, and these temptations invariably assumed a sexual form. In the realms of education, social life, and family law, the Church's moral vision and doctrine held sway. The Church had found the courts, legislators, pressure groups, media, and segments of the public considerably less willing to accept the murky blend of a liberal state enforcing Catholic doctrine that was so important in the 1930s. The media includes radio, television, Newspapers, Censorship, and Film.
