Whelan, Irene

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Whelan, Irene

PERSONAL:

Education: National University of Ireland, B.A.; University of Wisconsin, M.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, Manhattanville College, Founders Hall G16, 2900 Purchase St., Purchase, NY 10577. E-mail—whelani@mville.edu.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, and educator. Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY, professor of history, director of Irish Studies.

WRITINGS:

The Bible War in Ireland: The "Second Reformation" and the Polarization of Protestant-Catholic Relations, 1800-1840, University of Wisconsin Press (Madison, WI), 2005.

Contributor to books, including Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States, edited by J. Lee and Marion Casey, New York University Press (New York, NY), 2006; and Protestant Millennialism, Evangelicalism, and Irish Society, 1790-2005, edited by Crawford Gribben and Andrew R. Holmes, Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer, historian, and educator Irene Whelan is a graduate of the National University of Ireland in Galway, where she received her B.A. in English and history, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she obtained both her M.A. and Ph.D., also in history. She has served as professor of history and director of Irish studies at Manhattanville College located in Purchase, New York, and has taught courses such as "Ireland in the Twentieth Century," "Politics and Religion in Ireland," and "Modern Europe: 1648 to the Present." Whelan has also contributed essays and articles to books, including Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States, edited by J. Lee and Marion Casey, and Protestant Millennialism, Evangelicalism, and Irish Society, 1790-2005, edited by Crawford Gribben and Andrew R. Holmes.

Whelan's The Bible War in Ireland: The "Second Reformation" and the Polarization of Protestant-Catholic Relations, 1800-1840, published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2005, catalogues the significant events and controversies surrounding the second reformation in Ireland. The reformation itself consisted of a primarily Protestant evangelical movement which occurred within the Church of Ireland during the nineteenth century. Within the narrative, Whelan demonstrates that there is an interconnectedness and simultaneous occurrence of social, political, and religious happenings that contributed to this movement's rapid progression, conclusion, and the prolonged Catholic-Protestant conflict. Social concerns, such as education and political equality, as well as the earnest desire to unify and bring a more conservative atmosphere to the already reformed church motivated the movement. Whelan asserts that "the result was a new culture war, in which Catholic and Protestant leaders began a bitter public debate over the legitimacy of each faith. The Catholic and Protestant laities, meanwhile, began to define themselves as members of distinct and competing religious nations. And evangelical preachers and the Catholic priesthood soon became engaged in a new battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish peasantry," and the clash between the two "provided the impetus for the Catholic Church to reorganize, strengthen, and assert itself as protector of peasants and defendant of the Irish nation," according to Cara Delay's review in the Journal of British Studies. Stewart J. Brown, in an essay for the American Historical Review, noted: "One of the strengths of Whelan's book is her analysis of evangelical landowners in Ireland, the so-called ‘Bible gentry’, who embraced the ‘Second Reformation’ movement in large part as a means to preserve both the ‘Protestant ascendancy’ and political union with Britain" and that the study "is based on extensive research into the Irish evangelical campaign and an impressive knowledge of the personalities and events." Whelan explains that the desire to be a unified nation, or "united kingdom," appealed to the landed majority due to the belief that it would widely improve Ireland's condition and provide stability for their interests, but the peasant class, largely Catholic, saw the evangelical movement as an act of oppression by the more affluent. "As Whelan demonstrates convincingly, this Protestant crusade to convert the masses aroused the ire of the Catholic faithful. Catholic leaders who had been reluctant openly to criticize the established Church of Ireland prior to 1819, hoping that their silence would assuage Protestant fears of a Catholic ascendancy, became more emboldened in the face of this evangelical challenge," commented Canadian Journal of History contributor Andrew Mark Eason. Furthermore, Eason concluded that the text "is a welcome and well-researched addition to the historiography on Protestant-Catholic relations. Although focused primarily on Ireland and the period between 1800 and 1840, Whelan's book places evangelicalism within an international context and also explores its growing impact upon the Irish Protestant community during the late eighteenth century."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, February 1, 2007, Stewart J. Brown, review of The Bible War in Ireland: The "Second Reformation" and the Polarization of Protestant-Catholic Relations, 1800-1840, p. 280.

Canadian Journal of History, December 22, 2006, Andrew Mark Eason, review of The Bible War in Ireland, p. 583.

Catholic Historical Review, October 1, 2007, Thomas Bartlett, review of The Bible War in Ireland, p. 990.

Choice, November 1, 2006, T.P. Power, review of The Bible War in Ireland, p. 551.

History: Review of New Books, March 22, 2006, Janet Nolan, review of The Bible War in Ireland, p. 84.

Journal of British Studies, October 1, 2006, Cara Delay, review of The Bible War in Ireland, p. 916.

Reference & Research Book News, August 1, 2006, review of The Bible War in Ireland.