"Ara ｂ y"Back ｇｒ ounds Ｉ n ｔ rodu ｃ ti ｏｎIre ｌ and's major re ｌ i ｇ ion， Ｒ oman Cat ｈ olic ｉ sm， ｄｏｍ inated I ｒ i ｓ h cu ｌｔ u ｒ e， a ｓ it co ｎ t ｉｎ ue ｓ tｏ d ｏ to ｄ ay alt ｈ ou ｇ h to ａ le ｓｓｅ r e ｘ tent． Ｍa ｎ y fami ｌ i ｅ s sen ｔ their children t ｏ ｓ c ｈ ool ｓ ruｎ by Jesuit ｐ r ｉ ests (l ｉｋ e th ｅ on ｅ th ｅ ｎ a ｒｒ at ｏr in ａ tte ｎ ds） ａ nd con ｖｅ nt schoo ｌ s ru ｎ ｂ y nuns （lｉｋ e the one M ａ ngan's s ｉ s ｔ er attends). Catholic ｉsm is ｏｆｔ en seen ａ s a s ｏ urce of the fre ｑ u ｅ nt ｃonfli ｃ t in Ir ｉ sh cu ｌ tu ｒ e be ｔｗ e ｅｎ sensuali ｔｙ and as ｃ eti ｃ ism, a conf ｌｉ c ｔ t ｈ at fig ｕ res prominent ｌｙ in Ｊｏｙ ce＇s autobiog ｒａｐ hical nove ｌ A Port ｒ ait of t ｈ e A ｒ tis ｔ as a You ｎ g Ｍａ n . In ｍａｎｙ ways, C ａ t ｈｏ l ｉ cism, part ｉ cula ｒ ly ａ s prａｃ ticed a ｔ ｔ he t ｕ rn o ｆ t ｈ e ce ｎ t ｕ ry, ｗａ s an ex ｔｒ emely sen ｓｕ o ｕ s reli ｇ ion, em ｐｈ asizing ｉ n ｔense pe ｒｓ on ａｌ spiritua ｌ exp ｅ rience an ｄ ｓｕrroun ｄ ing ｉ tse ｌ f w ｉ t ｈ such ｒ ich trapping ｓ as beautiful c ｈ ur ｃ hes, elega ｎ t pai ｎｔ ings and ｓｔatues， o ｔ herw ｏｒ ld ｌ y musi ｃ， ａｎｄ ｓ um ｐ tuouｓ ve ｓ tments ａ nd alta ｒ de ｃ oratio ｎ s. Ｏｎ th ｅ oth ｅ r hand, t ｈ e Chur ｃ h's official ａ t ｔ it ｕ d ｅ tow ａ rd enjoyｍ ent ｏｆ the sens ｅｓ a ｎ d pa ｒ ticular ｌ y toward se ｘu ａ li ｔ y was se ｖ er ｅ ａ nd r ｅ s ｔ ric ｔｉｖ e. T ｈ e ideal wom ａｎ w ａ s th ｅ Virgin Mary， w ｈｏ ｍ ...
