Northern Ireland Archives - Catholic Herald

Northern Ireland

Let them finally have a Christian burial: Captain Robert Nairac and last of the ‘Disappeared’ from Northern Ireland’s Troubles

April 08, 2024

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh has reiterated his ongoing call for action to finally retrieve the remains of Northern Ireland’s last few “Disappeared”: four men killed by the IRA during the Troubles, whose bodies have never been found. The Catholic Church in Northern Ireland recalls these men each year at a special Mass, which is

Finding hope among the ruins: Rebuilding the Church in Ireland through sincerity

March 31, 2024

On a cold Spring morning on the west coast of Ireland, replete with intermittent showers of sleet, I travelled to the small town of Claregalway, just outside Galway city. Standing on the outskirts of the town are the impressive ruins of a Franciscan Abbey, whose origins date as far back as 1250 A.D. The story

Does Leo Varadkar’s surprise resignation as Ireland’s first gay Taoiseach show he underestimated the Catholic Church?

March 21, 2024

The news that Leo Varadkar is to step down as Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) once his Fine Gael party selects a new leader, will give rise to reflection among the country’s Catholics about whether his successor will bring any changes to current Church-State relations. Varadkar had a complex relationship with the Catholic Church, after making

Northern Ireland’s evangelical Catholics reveal a ‘more varied and complex’ religious situation

March 12, 2024

The significant number of evangelical Catholics in Northern Ireland stands out in a recent survey conducted for the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland (EANI), with 38 per cent of practising Catholics describing themselves as such. The survey by Savanta ComRes represents the most comprehensive survey of religious identification, practice and viewpoints across Northern Ireland in two decades, notes national broadcaster RTÉ.

Sinn Fein gains more power: are Christian values in Ireland under threat?

February 06, 2024

As devolved government returns to Northern Ireland for the first time in two years, a Sinn Fein leader takes the position of First Minister of Northern Ireland on the back of becoming the largest party in the Northern Irish Assembly in the 2022 elections. With a Nationalist party now holding the most seats in Northern

Nativity painting of UK ‘national importance’ becomes High Renaissance ‘Christmas gift’ for Belfast

January 03, 2024

On hearing in 1929 that his native city of Belfast had just built an art gallery but had no paintings to fill it the painter Sir John Lavery decided to generously gift 34 paintings of his own. Just before this Christmas that same art gallery, now the Ulster Museum, unveiled its most recent acquisition bequeathed

N. Irish Catholic schools fight back as pressure mounts to adopt secular ideologies

November 20, 2023

Just as the Scottish Bishops’ Conference has robustly engaged the Department of Education in Scotland on the removal of protections for Catholic denominational education, the Catholic Schools’ Trustee Service has engaged in the consultative process on Relationship and Sexuality Education in Northern Ireland. Chaired by Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry, the Catholic Schools’ Trustee

Catholics overtake Protestants in Northern Ireland for the first time

September 23, 2022

Statistics released by NISRA show that, for the first time, Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland—the part of the island of Ireland which remains in the United Kingdom. Catholics now make up 45.7 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland, with the number of Protestants at 43.48 per cent. Ten years ago, the figures were 45.1 per cent