Well, Holy God: A Memoir of a Catholic, Agnostic Correspondent

Description

In Well, Holy God, Patsy McGarry, the Religious Affairs Correspondent for The Irish Times since 1997, gives a personal account of growing up in the Catholic Church and of a faith lost when the stark realities of that Church became apparent to him.

As a journalist, McGarry reported on some of the most obscene scandals that have rocked the Church in the last few decades, none more horrifying than the clerical child sex abuse cases. He contrasts the Church’s determination to sweep this under the rug with its vilification of Bishop Eamonn Casey, who was exiled to Ecuador after his relationship with Annie Murphy became public.

He also reflects on the role of women in the Church, both the positive stories and the tragedies of the Mother and Baby Homes and the Magdalene laundries.

Alongside accounts of seismic events which precipitated the fall of the most powerful institution in modern Ireland, there are lighter anecdotes, including the many minefields faced when travelling with popes. Well, Holy God is a memoir brimming with personality, charting the highs and lows of a truly fascinating career.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patsy McGarry was born in November 1952 in County Roscommon. Following a spell in teaching and then radio in Dublin, he became the theatre critic for The Irish Press. In 1992 he won a national media award for political coverage in the Sunday Independent on the fall of Charles Haughey. In 1993 he began working for The Irish Times and in 1997 became Religious Affairs Correspondent. He has published a number of books, including Christianity, While Justice Slept: The True Story of Nicky Kelly and the Sallins Train Robbery and First Citizen: Mary McAleese and the Irish Presidency.

CONTENTS

1. In the Beginning …
2. A Grand Metropolis
3. Mary’s Bridge Too Far
4. A Painful Case
5. The Fugitive Bishop and His Son
6. Heraclitus
7. Insurance and a Medieval Monk
8. Icarus
9. Drumcree, O Drumcree
10. An Irishwoman Abroad
11. Travels with the Pope
12. Roman ‘Justice’
13. Among the Best
14. Mná na hÉireann