Occasions of Sin

Diarmaid Ferriter is one of Ireland's best-known historians and is Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD. His books include The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004), Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the life and legacy of Eamon de Valera (2007), Occasions of Sin: Sex and Society in Modern Ireland (2009) and Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s (2012). His most recent book is A Nation and not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution 1913-23 (2015) He is a regular broadcaster on television and radio and a weekly columnist with the Irish Times. In 2010 he presented a three-part history of twentieth century Ireland, The Limits of Liberty, on RTE television.

A groundbreaking study of the control of sexuality by church and state in twentieth century Ireland...a riveting account...for anyone tempted by the sin of nostalgia, Ferriter's superbly researched narrative is a powerful prophylactic -- Fintan O'Toole Observer What Ferriter's insightful account makes us acutely aware of is the gendered nature of blame or fault for sexual misbehaviour ... this book graphically illustrates the extent and durability of past delusions about Irish sexual purity Irish Examiner It analyses the flaws in the way the Irish saw themselves, and hoped that others would see them... the book adds up to a tremendous feat of documentation which leaves no source of misery unprobed. The Independent Impressively researched and compellingly written...the pretence persisted for many decades that no sex happened in Ireland; the reality was very different. Ferriter's book makes an immense contribution in bringing this into the open, while maintaining a fair balance between dwelling unduly on the abuse, and celebrating the brave battles won.. Irish Times Finely textured and superbly researched...Ferriter bridges the massive gap between the perceived version of Irish life and the reality that kept intruding. It makes for a fascinating social history. Sunday Independent A gargantuan study of Irish attitudes to sex and sexuality from famine times until the present day...a work of considerable prowess...as a rigorous, empirical and layered examination of a topic that befuddled Irish people for most of the last century, Ferriter's work represents a laudable accomplishment Sunday Times Vast in scope and dense in detail, it's probably the most comprehensive treatment it's possible to get about a subject that's inherently shrouded in secrecy and shame Sunday Business Post finely judged...compelling...an important and timely book: it is a richly textured history of modern Ireland's complicated attitude to sex...enlists an impressive range of primary sources from public archives to personal memoir to contemporary fiction...the book's great virtue lies in its detail The Guardian