A New Ireland

How Europe's Most Conservative Country Became Its Most Liberal

By: Niall O'Dowd

Narrated by: Roger Clark

In a May 2019 countrywide referendum, Ireland voted overwhelmingly to make abortion legal; three years earlier, it had done the same with same-sex marriage, becoming the only country in the world to pass such a law by universal suffrage. Pope Francis' visit to the country saw protests and a fraction of the emphatic welcome that Pope John Paul's had seen 40 years earlier. There have been two female heads of state since 1990, the first two in Ireland's history. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, an openly gay man of Indian heritage, declared that "a quiet revolution had taken place".

It had. For nearly all of its modern history, Ireland was Europe's most conservative country. The Catholic Church was its most powerful institution and held power over all facets of Irish life. But as scandal eroded the Church's hold on Irish life, a new Ireland has flourished. War in the North has ended. EU membership and an influx of American multinational corporations have helped Ireland weather economic depression and transform into Europe's headquarters for Apple, Facebook, and Google.

With help from prominent Irish and Irish American voices like historian and best-selling author Tim Pat Coogan and the New York Times' Maureen Dowd, A New Ireland tells the story of a modern revolution against all odds.

©2020 Niall O'Dowd (P)2021 Tantor

Clear and focused

I found this report clearer and more focused than Fintan O`Toole`s
erudite and wide raging; and more sober than O`Tooles triumphalist rhetoric and encyclopedic knowledge. This narrative is more church and less politics. it's brevity suited my limited attention span, summarizing the events I had been listening to ad nauseum in the Irish media.

Great thoughtful overview of the road to modern Ireland

O’Dowd is probably one of the most important spokesperson today on Ireland and Irish America. This is a wonderful book that concisely shows the transformation of Ireland and well worth the time to read.