Reforming Galway

Civic society, religious change and St Nicholas's collegiate church, 1550-1750

Raymond Gillespie

"The Irish history community was united in grief earlier this year  owing to the untimely passing of Maynooth stalwart Raymond Gillespie. Published posthumously, Gillespie's Reforming Galway: civic society, religious change and St Nicholas's Collegiate Church, 1550-1750 is an exceptional local history of one church in Galway, which is used as a microcosm to explore the complexities of religious change in early modern Ireland. This text is really a social history of both the physical church and the parish community and illustrates why Gillespie's scholarship will be sorely missed". (Daragh Fitzgerald, History Ireland, 2024)

“This volume represents yet another masterful exploration of Irish social and religious history, taking us from the Reformation to 1750 ... The aim of this volume is to provide a microhistory of religious, political and social change through the lens of the St Nicholas ... it demanded all of Ray Gillespie’s sleuthing skills to reconstruct what was happening on the ground. The result is a richly rewarding book, not just adding considerably to our knowledge of Galway, but giving us a detailed insight into the interaction between religious change and political power on the ground - in particular, how national developments were implemented at local level ... As one finishes this wonderful book one is left with .... that ultimate compliment to a consummate scholar - the desire to read more” Alan Ford, Search. A Church of Ireland Journal, vol. 48.1 (Spring 2025)