Publisher's Synopsis
This volume tells the story of a people who, though persecuted and impoverished, generated a vibrant religion, with all-pervasive homespun spirituality. Without churches or presbyteries, religion became people-centred. All the important ceremonies took place in the home - masses, christenings, confessions, weddings and wakes. It was a celebratory Church, enjoying its wakes no less than its weddings.;The lives of the people are described in detail: their dress, food, cabins, their legendary hospitality, their passion for music and dancing, holy wells with their pilgrimages and patterns, hedge-schools and poor scholars, station-masses, fairs, faction-fights and poteen-making.
