• Urban Catholics: Urban Catholicism in England and Wales from 1829 to the present day [top]
  Written by John Hickey
  First published in 1967 in Great Britain by Geoffrey Chapman, in hardback, 188pp, no ISBN
  Reprinted in 1967 in Great Britain by The Catholic Book Club, in hardback with dustjacket, 189pp

About this book: For some time, there has been a need for a scientific study of the pattern of Catholic life in the modern urban environment. This is one of the few studies of this nature to have appeared in this country. The author examines the Irish immigrant community from the time of the Famine onwards. He studies, from an historical and sociological viewpoint, its assimilation into the larger 'host' society and its influence in creating the parochial structures now typical in this country. If the book's conclusions bring the reader to a more critical awareness of present [1960s] of Catholic life, it is because the author, a responsible and experienced sociologist, has laid a solid scholarly foundation in the main body of the book. The sample urban situation, which John Hickey studies, is that of Cardiff throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The economic, nationalistic and social factors in the life of the immigrant, Catholic population are considered not simply in themselves, but in the light of the prevailing attitudes of the country at the time. A tendency to isolation emerges - a tendency which, in many Catholic institutions, still prevails. How far do some of the basic presuppositions of parish organisation reflect an outdated social system? How true is the allegation that Catholics have inherited a 'ghetto' mentality?

1. Introduction: scope of the study
2. Background: religious, social, political
(a) Outline of the physical growth and distribution of the Catholic population to 1961
(b) Divisions amongst Catholics
-(i) 'Old' Catholics
-(ii) Converts
(c) Social isolation of these groups
3. Urban Catholics
(a) Social and political background
(b) Growth or urban population
(c) Irish immigration to urban areas
(d) Pattern of living in working-class areas
4. Catholics and their neighbours: general considerations
5. Development of an urban community:
Catholics in Cardiff
(a) Establishment of the Catholic settlement in Cardiff
-(i) Social status of the immigrants: General picture
-(ii) Class division amongst the immigrants
(b) The nature of the settlement
-(i) Location
-(ii) Living conditions of the immigrants before 1845
-(iii) Living conditions of the immigrants, 1845-61
-(iv) Effects of these conditions on the immigrants
-(v) Other aspects of the community prior to 1861. Influence of 'superior' members of the Community; Education; Social Activities; Religious Practice
-(vi) Summary
6. Development of the Catholic community (contd.):
Development of the Catholic Community, 1861-1951
-Statistics of population, 1861-1951
-Improvement in the original area of settlement
-Movement into other areas; spread of the Catholic community
-Social activities
-Class divisions within the community
-Inter-marriage tendencies
-Relationship between Catholics and their social environment in Cardiff
7. Catholics and movements directed to social and political reform
8. Catholics in urban society, 1965
Sources; Bibliography