The Waning of the Green: Catholics, the Irish, and Identity in Toronto, 1887-1922 (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion, 32)

by Mark G. McGowan

McGowan traces the evolution of the Catholic community from an isolated religious and Irish ethnic subculture in the late nineteenth century into an integrated segment of English Canadian society by the early twentieth century. English-speaking Catholics moved into all neighbourhoods of the city and socialized with and married non-Catholics. They even embraced their own brand of imperialism: by 1914 thousands of them had enlisted to fight for God and the British Empire. McGowan's detailed and lively portrait will be of great interest to students and scholars of religious history, Irish studies, ethnic history, and Canadian history.

432 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 1998

Reviews

[Dasha]

In The Waning of the Green (1999) McGowan challenges the stereotype that labels Canadian English-speaking Catholics, and particularly Irish Catholics, as poor, illiterate, isolated, and untrustworthy. The perpetuation of this view likely stems from applying American models of Irish Catholics to the Canadian context (p. 6). McGowan, however, contends that between 1887 and 1922 English-speaking Catholics shed their nationalist ties to Ireland, participated in working- and middle-class Toronto culture, and engaged in cooperative efforts with Protestants to acclimate to Toronto life and develop strong loyalties to the British empire. McGowan demonstrates this change from the community and church level, tracing the efforts of priests, such as John Walsh, lay members of the community who attended separate schools and attended social programs, intermarriage, and newspapers that increasingly catered to the Canadian-related needs of the English-speaking Catholics in Toronto. Indeed, the Catholic faith provided this group with a way to participate in Canadian life rather than an opposition to said life. As such, members of the church often challenged the hesitancies of church leaders, such as Daniel O’Connor in the case of his refusal to allow mixed marriages, in order to express their faith that was compatible with Canadian society. Similarly, the clergy became increasingly Canadian-born which helped to indigenize the church and quiet the nationalist streak of the hierarchy. McGowan also highlights the role of women, or pink-collared work, who participated in the professionalization of separate schools and the promotion of post-secondary education for students at the University of Toronto (p. 144). Between William O’Brien's visit to Toronto, and the ensuing riot in 1887, to the less-than-excited response to growing Irish rights in the UK in 1922, Canadian values grew to represent the heart of English-speaking Catholics in Toronto.