Introduction

This short introduction starts by placing the work and experience of Cardinal Cahal Daly within the historical context of the conflict in Northern Ireland and of the Catholic Church as a whole. It then offers a short biography of Daly and outlines the sources that the book used to understand the role that Catholic social teaching played in his work on Northern Ireland. It outlines how Daly employed the concept of the ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ as a means of bringing the social teachings of the Catholic Church to bear on the causes and consequences of the conflict. Finally, the introduction outlines why such a study is necessary to appreciate the behaviour of the Catholic Church during the conflict in Northern Ireland, and the relevance to Daly to those Churches living and working in contexts of direct and structural violence.