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Humanism in Ireland

1933-2016

A History and Memoir

 

By Nicolas Johnson

Edited by Rose Mary Cullen

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ISBN: 978-1-917242-08-0

 

eBook ISBN: 978-1-917242-18-9

 

Price: €15.00 plus P&P (Irish postal address)

 

 

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About the Book:

 

This book is a history of organized secular groups in Ireland. Beginning with the Secular Society of Ireland (1933-6), it then covers the Thinkers Circle (1941-5), the Irish Humanist Association (1967-77), the Campaign to Separate Church and State (1987-95) and the current Humanist Association of Ireland (1990s-). Using original source material the book chronicles the establishment, development and in some cases demise of these groups. It contextualises the role of each group within the trajectory of the secular movement and the wider social and political climate of the times.

A major component of the book is an account of the Humanist Association of Ireland detailing its early years and subsequent growth. This growth is outlined by documenting the expansion of the organization, the influential campaigns undertaken and the development of humanist ceremonies (weddings, funerals and namings) and chaplaincy services.  This section of the book is part memoir as it is informed by the author’s personal experiences as a serving board member from 2001-16 and the central role he played in pursuing campaigns initiated by the Association.

 

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About the author:

Nic was born in the Dominican Republic. He spent his early childhood in Spain and his adult life in the USA and Ireland. He held a PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University and worked in the computer industry. His interest in political and social activism began in the 1960s with the anti-Vietnam war, civil and equal rights movements. This continued on into advocacy in support of secularism. He belonged to pro-secular organisations on both sides of the Atlantic and was an ardent activist until the end of his life. He was instrumental in establishing the first Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, serving as president of that board for a period of time. He was also on the board of the Humanist Association of Ireland and established a Humanist archive, now housed in the National Archives of Ireland. Before he died, he co-authored an article on the Thinkers Circle, a 1940s Dublin based secular group, which was published in the Analecta Hibernica Journal, 2019.

 

Author, Nicolas Johnson