Catholic strongman who was finally laid low by the sexual revolution

ONE of the ironies of the career of John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin from 1940 until 1972, and the towering figure of 20th century Irish Catholicism, was that for someone who had such presence and domination, he was a poor communicator.

As Francis Xavier Carty points out in his new book — Hold Firm: John Charles McQuaid and the Second Vatican Council — one of the main challenges thrown down by the council was in the field of communications and the requirement that the “public image” of priests and the church be tackled though such initiatives as the appointment of press officers.

Carty observes that McQuaid, probably through gritted teeth, established a secret all-priests Public Image Committee at the end of 1963.