The Mormon Minority in Ireland (feat. Hazel O'Brien)

Global Mormonism is an ever-growing field of study for scholars as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership has exploded throughout the Global South, especially in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. But how has Mormonism fared in Europe, especially in historically Catholic nations? Sociologist Hazel O'Brien takes host Nicholas Shrum on a tour of two pseudonymous LDS wards in the Republic of Ireland, mining the deep ethnographic depths of her 2023 book, Irish Mormons: Reconciling Identity and Global Mormonism. Dr. O'Brien details the experiences of real Mormons in Ireland as they negotiate their Irish heritage with a faith other than the predominant Irish Catholicism, and as they relate to a Church still predominantly organized and ruled by Americans. Dr. O'Brien also examines the broader experiences of religious minorities in Ireland, the country's changing socio-religious landscape, and a way forward for Mormonism as it sets it sights more globally.

To find out more about Dr. O'Brien and her upcoming work, click here.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Intro
• 1:55 Episode Intro
• 2:26 Dr. O'Brien's Background
• 5:15 Dr. O'Brien's Ethnographic Methodology
• 9:43 Demographics of Research Participants
• 12:00 Research Experience as an Outsider
• 16:55 Minority Religions in Ireland
• 19:03 Ireland's Evolving Socio-Religious Landscape
• 27:22 Relationship of Irish Nationality and Religion
• 32:50 Irish Mormons and Collective Mormon Identity
• 35:07 How Mormons Negotiate Irish Heritage
• 39:40 How Irish Mormons Negotiate Mormonism
• 44:40 Broader Global Mormon Experience
• 48:06 Race in Irish Mormonism
• 49:26 Creating a Universal LDS Culture
• 56:38 Dr. O'Brien's Upcoming Projects
• 58:48 Episode Closing
• 59:26 Podcast Outro