My most recent book, Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland (Oxford, 2016) has been reviewed by Adrian Stringer in the latest edition of The Journal of the Irish Society for the Academy Study of Religions.
You can read the full review here.
Extracts:
Gladys Ganiel provides many insights in this monograph. In the first
instance it offers the reader a comprehensive overview of the religious
affiliation and attitudes of people on ‘the island of Ireland’, especially those
from the Republic. This is useful for anyone with an interest in either the
history or religion of this part of Europe from the late nineteenth century
onward.
… Ganiel’s presentations of the faith and practices of those on the edge of
established religion (albeit almost exclusively that of the Roman Catholic
Church in Ireland), offers an original approach to religious life. It gives the
reader the concept of a religious market in which the historic churches on
the island are in decline whilst interested persons seek new expressions.
The latter are not simply isolated individuals, but instead have some loose
connection with these failing institutions (236-8). By so doing, Ganiel sees
hope for an island troubled by its sectarian past within the critiques of new,
collective religious forms. Written in the spirit of ‘action-research’ to which
Ganiel has dedicated her career, the book draws to a close with a look into
the prospects for religion on the island. It does so by using the words from
a fellow traveller in the field: ‘it is also exciting for the future: the thrill of
not knowing, of venturing into a new “God space”’ (255).
I commend this engaging, easily read and useful work to anyone
(specialist or not), who is interested in Ireland and its contemporary
religious scene.