Marriage proposals from men seeking good wives; butter, milk and potatoes as part payment of wages - such are the anecdotes that populate the pages of a new social history documenting the colourful history of the country's first nurses' trade union.

The overwhelming majority of Irish practising Catholics want to see radical change in their Church, including the ordination of women, an end to compulsory celibacy for clerics, with permission for priests to marry, and a greater role for the laity.

The Association of Catholic Priests has said it does not expect members of the Irish hierarchy to comment on the silencing by the Vatican of one of the group’s founders, Fr Tony Flannery.

The Association of Catholic Priests has accused the Vatican of trying to silence its founding member Fr Tony Flannery and warned the move will exacerbate the perceived “disconnect” between the Irish Church and Rome.