This can only be fully understood by examining the evolution of Irish religious anti-Semitism, which really only took hold when Paul Cardinal Cullen became Ireland’s first Holy Roman Prince (Cardinal) in 1849. He spearheaded the Romanisation of a previously independent Catholic Church by implementing the anti-Semitic ethos of the Jesuits as exemplified by its bigoted ramblings in Civilta Cattolica. He reinforced this by forging a Gaelic Irish Catholic identity that marginalised minorities, in particular the tiny Jewish community.
Dr. Kevin J McCarthy is currently in the process of turning his doctoral thesis on Robert Briscoe into a monograph entitled, Robert Briscoe Sinn Féin Republican, Fianna Fáil Nationalist and Revisionist Zionist. He has recently published a chapter entitled ‘An Introduction to Robert Briscoe’s Extraordinary Immigration Initiative’ in The Irish Context of Kristallnacht: Refugees and Helpers,’ edited by Gisella Holfter and he has challenged the existing paradigm depicting de Valera as unhelpful and unsympathetic to the pre-war Jewish tragedy in ‘Éamon de Valera’s Relationship with Robert Briscoe: A reappraisal,’ Irish Studies in International Affairs, Vol. 24. Nov.2014.
Thursday 19th February at 7.30pm
The Irish Jewish Museum, 3 Walworth Road, Dublin 8
ADVANCE BOOKINGS ONLY
Email: info@jewishmuseum.ie
