"Ara b y"Back gr ounds I n t rodu c ti onIre l and's major re l i g ion, R oman Cat h olic i sm, dom inated I r i s h cu lt u r e, a s it co n t in ue s to d o to d ay alt h ou g h to a le sse r e x tent. Ma n y fami l i e s sen t their children t o s c h ool s run by Jesuit p r i ests (l ik e th e on e th e n a rr at or in a tte n ds) a nd con ve nt schoo l s ru n b y nuns (lik e the one M a ngan's s i s t er attends)
Catholic ism is oft en seen a s a s o urce of the fre q u e nt confli c t in Ir i sh cu l tu r e be tw e en sensuali ty and as c eti c ism, a conf li c t t h at fig u res prominent ly in Joy ce's autobiog rap hical nove l A Port r ait of t h e A r tis t as a You n g Ma n
In many ways, C a t ho l i cism, part i cula r ly a s prac ticed a t t he t u rn o f t h e c