When God Took Sides: Religion and Identity in Irish History: Unfinished History

The struggle between Catholic and Protestant has shaped Irish history since the Reformation. But how do Catholics and Protestants see each other? And how do they view their own communities and what these communities stand for? Tracing the history of religious identities in Ireland over the last three centuries, Marianne Elliott argues that these two questions are inextricably linked and that the identity of both Catholics and Protestants is shaped by the way that each community views the other. Cutting through the layers of myths, lies, and half-truths that make up the vision that Catholics and Protestants have of each other, she looks at how mutual religious stereotypes were developed over the centuries, how they were perpetuated and entrenched, and how they have defined modern identities and shaped Ireland's historical destiny, from the independence struggle and partition to the Troubles of the last four decades. Written by one of the leading Irish historians, When God Took Sides offers an engagingly written and original account of the religious tensions that have plagued Irish history.