‘Irish people show great physical courage but lack moral courage,’ says Irish theologian

An Irish theologian has said that lack of moral courage among the Irish people has roots that stretch back centuries — and that it continues to shape the character of Irish society today.

Fr Vincent Twomey, former Professor of Moral Theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, made the observation during a wide-ranging conversation on Just War Theory and Catholic moral thought recorded for The Irish Catholic podcast The Confession Box.

Drawing on research he conducted for his book The End of Irish Catholicism? (2003), Fr Twomey said that visitors to Ireland in the 19th century noted the same paradox. “It was observed that Irish people — Irish men in particular— are renowned for their physical courage as fighters, soldiers and sportsmen, but seem to lack moral courage,” he said. “Things haven’t changed much today. You won’t stand up and be counted. You don’t put your head above the parapet.”

He connected this trait to a broader cultural tendency toward conformity, suggesting that begrudgery and social pressure had long discouraged dissent or independent thought. “Begrudgery will put you down, whatever you say or do,” he noted.

Fr Twomey also linked the phenomenon to what he described as the legacy of a legalistic and overly external form of Catholic education and catechesis in Ireland. He argued that an emphasis on external compliance, rather than the internalisation of genuine virtue, had failed to build the kind of moral backbone that authentic faith should produce.

He contrasted Ireland’s present day “practical atheism” — a conformity to secular norms rather than a principled rejection of faith — unfavourably with the open profession of faith he observed among Muslims in Ireland today. “I have great admiration for many of the Muslims I see in Ireland today,” he said. “They profess their faith openly.”

The interviewer suggested that the same pattern was visible in everyday life, noting that Irish people would often sympathise with protests — over fuel prices, for example — without joining them or, indeed, questioning whether the underlying arguments were sound. Fr Twomey agreed, adding: “We don’t have that critical spirit either.” Self-criticism and courage are intrinsically linked.

Despite the critique, Fr Twomey is anything but pessimistic, pointing to the deep reserves of faith that sustained our ancestors during Penal Times and then through the horrors of the Famine, not to mention the discrimination they faced abroad as Irish. “They had their faith,” he said. “And it kept them going.” It is still there, albeit not as obviously as in the past.