Introduction: The problem of history -- Part I: The age of Eve -- Eve and the serpent -- The foundation myth of patriarchy -- Crushing the serpent -- The end of matricentered Ireland and the curse of the Goddess Macha -- Part II: Brigit as Goddess -- Mother Goddess and virgin lawmaker -- Brigit of Kildare -- From Goddess to saint -- The sexual politics of the early Irish church -- The clerical control of reproduction -- The blasts of temptation -- The impact of male asceticism -- From kin to king -- The blood covenant made among men, excluding women -- Part III: The age of Mary -- The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland -- Popes, Kings, and Bishops reform the old laws of Ireland -- Clerical celibacy -- The quest for power in church and state -- The politics of virginity -- The cult of the Virgin Mary and the consolidation of patriarchal theology -- Conclusions: The age of the fathers -- Male reproductive consciousness: its contemporary influence in church and state
Analysis
Church and state Ireland History
Patriarchy Ireland History
Women Ireland History
Women Ireland Religious life History
Women in Christianity - History
Notes
English
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-259)
