The Second Reformation was an evangelical campaign from the 1820s onwards, organised by theological conservatives in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

and

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

History

Evangelical clergymen were known as "Biblicals" or "New Reformers". The Second Reformation was most zealously prosecuted in

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

where it was encouraged by

Thomas Plunket, 2nd Baron Plunket Thomas Span Plunket, 2nd Baron Plunket (1792–1866), was Bishop of Tuam, Killaly and Achonry. Plunket was the first son of William Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket and his wife, Catherine (née McCausland). He was educated at St John's College, Camb ...

, the Anglican

Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry The Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry is the Church of Ireland Ordinary of the united Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry in the Province of Armagh.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The ...

. Opposition in the west was led by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam,

John MacHale John MacHale ( ir, Seán Mac Éil; 6 March 1789 (or 1791) – 7 November 1881) was the Irish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, and Irish nationalist. He laboured and wrote to secure Catholic Emancipation, legislative independence, justice for te ...

. The movement endeavoured (unsuccessfully) and in ecumenical terms disastrously, to proselytise amongst the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

population of Ireland, frequently by highly dubious means in which material benefits were offered as a reward for conversion. The occasion of the

Great Famine (Ireland) The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

was also seized upon by the "new Reformers". To get food, starving Catholics were obliged to apply to the work house of the local

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

union. Conversion was expected upon admittance. Quaker and Irish politician

Alfred Webb Alfred John Webb (10 June 1834 – 30 July 1908) was an Irish Quaker from a family of activist printers. He became an Irish Parliamentary Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP), as well as a participant in nationalist movements around th ...

later wrote: Conversions exacted under the duress of those circumstances were often not long lived as the convert may not have been acting out of personal conviction. The Second Reformation was also opposed by moderates in the Church of Ireland. It petered out during the 1860s.

Other meanings

The term 'Second Reformation' has been used in a number of contexts in

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, and continues to be used by some to refer to contemporary events. In Germany and Northern Europe generally it is likely to refer to a period of

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

pressure on

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

from about 1560–1619.Michalski, 84 The "Dutch Second Reformation" or

Nadere Reformatie ''Nadere Reformatie'' (Dutch Second Reformation or Further Reformation) is the period of church history in the Netherlands, following the Reformation, from roughly 1600 until 1750. History The period and its representatives are known for thei ...

("Another Reformation") is usually placed rather later, from about 1600 onwards, and had much in common with English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

ism.

Notes

References

* Michalski, Sergiusz. ''Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant Image Question in Western and Eastern Europe'', Routledge, 1993, {{ISBN, 0-203-41425-X, 978020341425
Google Books
* Irene Whelan (2005), ''The Bible War in Ireland: The Second Reformation and the Polarization of Protestant-Catholic Relations, 1800–1840'' * Desmond Bowen (1978), "The Protestant Crusade in Ireland, 1800-70" 19th-century Protestantism History of the Church of England 19th century in Ireland Church of Ireland