Conference: Irish Catholic Spaces

On Saturday, 19 September next, on Saint Patrick's Campus in Dublin City University, Drumcondra, Dublin, the Catholic Historical Society of Ireland will host its annual conference, entitled, 'Irish Catholic Spaces: Pasts and Futures."

According to committee member Professor John McCafferty of UCD's School of History, and chair of the Irish Manuscripts Commission: "In a time when the many spaces created for Catholic worship and devotion, especially in the 19th century, are well into their second century of use, it is good to reflect on the extraordinary built heritage of the Church in Ireland.

"We hope that this day will lead to a greater understanding of the extent to which, from the middle ages to the post-Famine years, ordinary lay men and women constructed and funded thousands of spaces for worship across the entire island.

"I am very much looking forward to the line-up of engaging speakers on the day who will, no doubt, inform and enlighten those present. Our conference will be of interest to students, academics and anyone seeking to explore the intersection of Ireland's faith history with civil society. By looking at the friary churches from earliest days to the present, the conference also marks the 800th anniversary of the death of Francis of Assisi."

"The day will also see the launch of an exciting new online initiative to record the interiors of over 3,000 Irish Catholic churches. Interest in Ireland's many beautiful and significant Catholic churches continues to grow apace. We hope that our conference will spark even further appreciation and study of this key part of Ireland's heritage," Professor McCafferty said.

Catholic Historical Society committee member, Bishop Paul Connell, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, said: "The built heritage of the Catholic Church in Ireland is a wonderful legacy which flourished on the faith of those who have gone before us. It is vital that we continue to maintain and preserve it. This conference will help greatly to focus attention on the beauty and artistic quality of our churches. I am very much looking forward to our gathering, and I wish the contributors well as they prepare for it."

The conference sessions will examine the Franciscan friary network, twentieth-century stained glass, the religious built environment and the Irish diaspora, and conclude with the launch of the church inscriptions database - PARISH: Preserving and Recording Ireland's Sacred.

Conference speakers will include Professor John McCafferty (UCD), Dr Malgorzata Krasnodębska-D'Aughton (UCC), Dr Niamh NicGhabhann (UL), Dr David Caron (NCAD), Dr Sophie Cooper (QUB), Dr Sarah Roddy (MU), Dr Joe Curran (MU), and Adam Heet (University of Notre Dame).

Recent themes addressed by annual conferences of the Catholic Historical Society of Ireland have included: 'The Catholic Church and the Irish Civil War' (2023); 'Catholic Social Action' (2024); and, 'O'Connell and his legacy' (2025).