Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society

“Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society gives voices to women and men whose lives and experiences have been almost erased from public consciousness. It explores how the island’s social and religious cultures first produced missionaries, but then changed so much that their contributions abroad continue to be overlooked. Most intriguingly, Gallagher argues that these retired missionaries have something fresh to say in the island’s debates on social justice and the meaning of life. This is a fine sociological study that contributes to such debates.” - Gladys Ganiel, Queen’s University Belfast

“The cumulative experience and wisdom of more than a thousand years of life in overseas missionary work is scientifically distilled in this book, based on extensive interviews with a wide range of retired or semi-retired Catholic missionaries. Carmel Gallagher has demonstrated how, over the past fifty years, Irish religious sisters, priests and lay people have enriched their understanding of Catholic missionary work, and have put it into practice in their work in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society is a valuable and interesting resource for both church and society in present-day Ireland.”- Donal Dorr, missionary theologian and author

“The Irish missionary movement could perhaps be described as Ireland’s most influential global project yet few people aged under 40 are aware of its extraordinary reach across continents and generations. Carmel Gallagher brings important and original insight to this movement at a critical juncture in its history. The interviews she carries out with returned Irish Catholic missionaries reveal these women and men to be far removed from religious caricatures – their honesty in appraising both their life’s work and the role of Catholic Church has much to teach us, whether you are a person of faith or not.” - Joe Humphreys, Assistant News Editor and Irish Times journalist, author of God’s Entrepreneurs: How Irish Missionaries tried to Change the World

“This is a timely, urgent and necessary work that tells an important chapter in the history of Catholic Ireland. By recording and retelling the stories of returned, retired missionaries, Carmel Gallagher documents the tales of our forgotten spiritual army, once the pride of Ireland. Like the Irish veterans of the first World War, they returned to a different society that was indifferent or even hostile towards their remarkable achievements. The research upends assumptions about Catholic religious orders abroad and how bravery and creativity were far more on offer than cowardice or rigidity. These stories offer a tempting alternative history - what-if they had stayed? - while staking out a future possibilities a more mature and post-clerical Catholicism — lay-lead, autonomous. These missionary stories, of real Christianity lived far from this country, highlight an uncomfortable truth: that the worst excesses of Catholic Ireland were more Irish than Catholic.” - Derek Scally, journalist and author of The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship

“Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society gives voices to women and men whose lives and experiences have been almost erased from public consciousness. It explores how the island’s social and religious cultures first produced missionaries, but then changed so much that their contributions abroad continue to be overlooked. Most intriguingly, Gallagher argues that these retired missionaries have something fresh to say in the island’s debates on social justice and the meaning of life. This is a fine sociological study that contributes to such debates.” Gladys Ganiel, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland

“The cumulative experience and wisdom of more than a thousand years of life in overseas missionary work is scientifically distilled in this book, based on extensive interviews with a wide range of retired or semi-retired Catholic missionaries. Carmel Gallagher has demonstrated how, over the past fifty years, Irish religious sisters, priests and lay people have enriched their understanding of Catholic missionary work, and have put it into practice in their work in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society is a valuable and interesting resource for both church and society in present-day Ireland.” Donal Dorr, missionary theologian and author

“The Irish missionary movement could perhaps be described as Ireland’s most influential global project yet few people aged under 40 are aware of its extraordinary reach across continents and generations. Carmel Gallagher brings important and original insight to this movement at a critical juncture in its history. The interviews she carries out with returned Irish Catholic missionaries reveal these women and men to be far removed from religious caricatures – their honesty in appraising both their life’s work and the role of Catholic Church has much to teach us, whether you are a person of faith or not.” Joe Humphreys, Assistant News Editor and Irish Times journalist, author of God’s Entrepreneurs: How Irish Missionaries Tried to Change the World

“This is a timely, urgent and necessary work that tells an important chapter in the history of Catholic Ireland. By recording and retelling the stories of returned, retired missionaries, Carmel Gallagher documents the tales of our forgotten spiritual army, once the pride of Ireland. Like the Irish veterans of the First World War, they returned to a different society that was indifferent or even hostile towards their remarkable achievements. The research upends assumptions about Catholic religious orders abroad and how bravery and creativity were far more on offer than cowardice or rigidity. These stories offer a tempting alternative history – what-if they had stayed? – while staking out future possibilities for a more mature and post-clerical Catholicism – lay-lead, autonomous. These missionary stories, of real Christianity lived far from this country, highlight an uncomfortable truth: that the worst excesses of Catholic Ireland were more Irish than Catholic.” Derek Scally, journalist and author of The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship