Proselytisation during the Famine
Uploaded by Kerrytom on Aug 10, 2013
This case study into proselytisation during the famine years in Dingle and Achill Island provides a wide area of scope for the historian to examine. It is necessary to outline what particular areas shall be examined over the course of the study and what the aims of the study are. It is also vital to outline a brief summery about how this study will be structured.
The first aim of the study is to examine the contention that ‘souperism’ was in fact prevalent in these areas before and during the famine. ‘Souperism’ was the term given to the practice of Protestant clergy and landowners of trying to convert Catholics by means of granting them material gain. Fr. Patrick Lavelle of Partry, Co. Mayo gave a vivid description of the term during a court case in 1860. “a person who trafficks in religion by inducing starving creatures to abandon a creed which they believe for one which in their hearts they reprobate, and this for some temporal consideration, be that meal, or money, or soup, or possession of a house or land.” This during the famine meant feeding the starving Catholics if they converted to Protestantism. These converts were christened ‘soupers’ or ‘jumpers’ by the remaining Catholic population in the area and people were said to have ‘taken the soup’ or ‘perverted’. This study aims to investigate some of the social implications which accompanied a person ‘taking the soup’. Where they treated differently in the community? Were the Catholic population willing to allow them to carry on with their lives like before? What, if any, was the response of the Catholic Church to these ‘jumpers’?
It is important to note that the missions in Dingle and Dugort were well established by the time the famine struck Ireland, so this study will also aim to investigate how the proselytising efforts changed in these colonies. Did they attract more converts due to the famine? Did they use the famine to their advantage to bring more people in the Protestant fold? Another aspect to examine is exactly how successful were the proselytising efforts.
A final facet that deserves attention in this study is whether these Missions or colonies actually had a more positive effect on the local community then negative. Did they provide people with the opportunity to save themselves from the ravages of the famine?
In doing a study such...