The following announcement was written by A & A Farmar:
The launch of Dictionary of Dublin Dissent – Dublin’s Protestant Dissenting Meeting Houses 1660-1920 by Steven C. Smyrl took place in the Unitarian Church, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, on the evening of Tuesday, 1st December. The book was launched by Prof. Raymond Gillespie, NUI Maynooth, who said:
“As a work of reference this book is one which readers will find themselves returning to again, and again, and again. It represents many years of painstaking enquiry and will prove invaluable to those involved in historical research. As such it joins the classic work of H.A. Wheeler and Maurice Craig, ‘The Dublin city churches of the Church of Ireland’ in enlarging our understanding of the geography and role of religion in the evolution of the modern city. The book is more than just a work of reference, however. It could just as easily be described as a ‘Companion’, and many readers will enjoy dipping into its pages to learn more about the history of Dublin’s dissenting congregations and their places of worship.”
About the Book
The religious radicalism of the Cromwellian period encouraged numerous Protestant dissenting sects to establish themselves for the first time in Dublin. Conviction, tenacity and skill (with occasional politic conformity) enabled many of these dissenting congregations to survive and flourish through the succeeding centuries. This book, by carefully reconstructing the congregational histories of Dublin’s Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Moravians, Huguenots, and others, highlights the important role (all too often under estimated) played by dissenters in the life of Ireland’s capital. In addition the author lists the surviving records of each congregation, the extent of which will surprise academics and genealogists alike.
About the Author
Steven Smyrl is an elder of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. He has worked as a professional genealogist for twenty years. Although he specialises in providing legal genealogy services to solicitors, his academic interest is focused on the history of Dublin’s Protestant dissenters and their congregations. He has spent many years searching out and cataloguing the surviving records for dissent in Dublin and this book represents the fruits of that research.
About the Publishers
A & A Farmar
Address: 78 Ranelagh Village, Dublin 6
Tel: 00-353-1- 496 3625
e-mail: afarmar@iol.ie
Price: paperback: €40 and hardback: €60 (Euro)
Pages: 358
ISBN: 978-1-906353-15-5
(The book is available directly from the publisher, post free)
