Mary E. Daly is Professor Emerita in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin. She is the author of ten books and co-author of eight edited volumes, including Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973 (Cambridge, 2016) and, with Eugenio F. Biagini, The Cambridge Social History of Modern Ireland (2017). She was the first woman to serve as President of the Royal Irish Academy (2014–17) and was awarded a Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities in 2020.

'A magisterial survey, rich in archival material and full of surprises while deftly charting the various players and high stakes in the battle to control female fertility. Essential reading for those who want to understand why the 'Irish solution to an Irish problem' prevailed for as long as it did.' Alana Harris, King's College London

• Introduction; 1. Late marriages and large families: 'the enigma of the modern world'; 2. The pill, the Pope and a changing Ireland; 3. 'A bitter blow: humanae vitae and Irish society, 1968–1973; 4. Contraception, access and opposition, 1973–80; 5. 'Against sin': an Irish family planning bill, 1973–79; 6. The 1983 Pro-Life Amendment; 7. 'Bona-Fide family planning': the 1980s and 1990s; Conclusions.

Mary E. Daly is Professor Emerita in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin. She is the author of ten books and co-author of eight edited volumes, including Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973 (Cambridge, 2016) and, with Eugenio F. Biagini, The Cambridge Social History of Modern Ireland (2017). She was the first woman to serve as President of the Royal Irish Academy (2014–17) and was awarded a Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities in 2020.

'A magisterial survey, rich in archival material and full of surprises while deftly charting the various players and high stakes in the battle to control female fertility. Essential reading for those who want to understand why the 'Irish solution to an Irish problem' prevailed for as long as it did.' Alana Harris, King's College London

• Introduction; 1. Late marriages and large families: 'the enigma of the modern world'; 2. The pill, the Pope and a changing Ireland; 3. 'A bitter blow: humanae vitae and Irish society, 1968–1973; 4. Contraception, access and opposition, 1973–80; 5. 'Against sin': an Irish family planning bill, 1973–79; 6. The 1983 Pro-Life Amendment; 7. 'Bona-Fide family planning': the 1980s and 1990s; Conclusions.

Mary E. Daly is Professor Emerita in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin. She is the author of ten books and co-author of eight edited volumes, including Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973 (Cambridge, 2016) and, with Eugenio F. Biagini, The Cambridge Social History of Modern Ireland (2017). She was the first woman to serve as President of the Royal Irish Academy (2014–17) and was awarded a Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities in 2020.

'A magisterial survey, rich in archival material and full of surprises while deftly charting the various players and high stakes in the battle to control female fertility. Essential reading for those who want to understand why the 'Irish solution to an Irish problem' prevailed for as long as it did.' Alana Harris, King's College London

• Introduction; 1. Late marriages and large families: 'the enigma of the modern world'; 2. The pill, the Pope and a changing Ireland; 3. 'A bitter blow: humanae vitae and Irish society, 1968–1973; 4. Contraception, access and opposition, 1973–80; 5. 'Against sin': an Irish family planning bill, 1973–79; 6. The 1983 Pro-Life Amendment; 7. 'Bona-Fide family planning': the 1980s and 1990s; Conclusions.