Non-fiction > History of modern Ireland > Debate & argument > Memoir
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The Reconstitution of Ireland: A nation’s progress, told through letters to the editor of The Irish Times
For more than four decades one Irish voice has spoken out, consistently, courageously, and with piercing clarity, against the intertwined power of Church and State in Ireland.
For more than four decades one Irish voice has spoken out, consistently, courageously, and with piercing clarity, against the intertwined power of Church and State in Ireland.
The Reconstitution of Ireland gathers those letters, published in The Irish Times over 47 years, tracing a nation’s transformation from repression to modern enlightenment.
Through letters and memoir, this book revisits the Ireland that silenced women and shamed the vulnerable, that tolerated Mother-and-Baby homes, Magdalene Laundries, systemic abuse, and moral hypocrisy, and follows the country’s long, painful emergence into a liberal, self-aware democracy.
Each letter captures a moment in Ireland’s ongoing moral reckoning: the struggle for divorce, abortion rights, secular education, and freedom of conscience. Alongside these are reflections on global issues, from Barack Obama to Ukraine, revealing a mind deeply engaged with the wider world.
Witty, incisive, and often prophetic, The Reconstitution of Ireland is both a personal memoir and a living chronicle of a nation rethinking its soul, and rebuilding it from within.
“Not to be missed by anyone interested in how Ireland developed over the past fifty years.” — The International Review of Books.
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Publisher : Audacity Publications
Publication date : February 10, 2025
Language : English
Print length : 284 pages
ISBN-10 : 1738541045
ISBN-13 : 978-1738541041
Item Weight : 13.4 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.64 x 9 inches
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From Italy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recommended for anyone who wants to understand the transformation of Ireland over the last 50 years
Reviewed in Italy on 31 March 2025
Format: Paperback
This volume is a salutary lesson to any writer of any kind: throw nothing away. McKenna has compiled, through the dozens of letters he has had published in The Irish Times over the last 46 years, an overview of the gradual revolution that has taken place in Ireland over that time. The themes of divorce, contraception, the Celtic Tiger, clerical child abuse, weaselly politicians, the separation of Church and State (and in the case of state education, the shameful failure to achieve that separation) are all covered, and more. McKenna frames his letters with commentary to help the reader (whether new to the subject, having forgotten just how far we have come or needing a reminder of how much better life now is – in some respects) understand the context in which they were written.
Those letters have a pithy style and are forensically well argued. The book is also illustrated at key points: my favourite amongst those images is Brian O’Driscoll showing off the Heineken Cup to an ecstatic little girl, Michaela Morley, in her bed in Temple Street Children’s Hospital. Read this book to understand modern Ireland.
From the United Kingdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 November 2025
Format: Kindle Edition
In this case I guess it is possible I could relate to, and agree with much of the book’s content. This is because I know from people who lived through all the things that are dealt with how bad it was: the ban in Ireland on divorce, the ban on contraception, the Celtic Tiger, clerical child abuse, and so many others.
The great thing about the letters in this book is that they were written at the time when the move was on to have the important changes made. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know how change can take place in a country. The writing is really very good too: not a word has been wasted.
From
goodreads
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very interesting, educational and entertaining read.
Reviewed on November 28, 2025
McKenna has, it seems, been contributing his wisdom to the letters page of The Irish Times newspaper for over forty years. In this book he has cleverly combined a reiteration of these letters from across the years with his own reminiscences of both what was happening in Ireland, and what was happening in his personal life. He’s put together something that becomes a fascinating mix between a memoir and a history. We scatter through subjects as diverse as divorce and abortion on one hand and wine bottles and rain drops on the other. Never flagging, the pace runs fast from start to finish.
McKenna’s life has tracked through some of the most interesting and in many ways frightening parts of recent Irish history. He saw first hand the violence of the Troubles, was personally impacted by the ban on divorce. He witnessed the horrific control that many in the church wielded over daily life and then he walks us through the inevitable end of that authority. He hits neutrality, sexual abuse, Gaza and the financial crash while entertaining us with stories of his life told in his distinctive voice.
A very interesting, educational and entertaining read.
From the United States
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2025
Format: Paperback
The Reconstitution of Ireland is a powerful and deeply compelling testament to one writer’s unwavering voice during some of the most pivotal and painful decades in modern Irish history. This remarkable collection of letters, published in “The Irish Times” over the course of 47 years, charts Ireland’s evolution from a nation shrouded by religious authority and institutional control to one that now stands more confident, compassionate, and morally self-aware.
What makes this book extraordinary is its combination of moral courage and clear-eyed intellect. Each letter confronts uncomfortable truths with eloquence: the oppression of women, the silent suffering imposed by Church-State collusion, and the injustices endured in Mother-and-Baby homes and Magdalene Laundries. Yet it is not solely an indictment, it is a record of progress, documenting the fights for divorce, for reproductive freedom, for secular education, and for dignity.
The author brings a global perspective too, connecting Ireland’s struggles with broader human rights issues and international affairs. The writing is witty, insightful, and prescient, often anticipating change years before it came.
This is more than history. It is the conscience of a nation in print—a moving and essential tribute to those who demanded Ireland become the fairer place it is today.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Letters from an Irish secularist
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2025
Format: Paperback
Seamus McKenna, an early member of Atheist Ireland, has had hundreds of short letters published in the Irish Times over nearly fifty years. He has now compiled them in a fascinating book, the Reconstitution of Ireland.
Seamus is a principled contrarian with a snappy writing style. He starts each section with a memoir-style introduction about how he experienced life in a changing Ireland. For authenticity, some letters are printed as images, as they appeared in the paper.
His topics range from the Irish clerical staples of divorce, contraception, abortion, education, and abuse, to the Northern Irish Troubles, the financial crash, international affairs, and whimsical trivia. But the thread that holds it together is the need to separate church and state.
In tight 200-300-word pieces, Seamus argues that church control of state-funded schools, with religion permeating the school day through an integrated curriculum, and religious oaths for President and judges, are incompatible with a modern republic.
His letters follow the slow decline of church control of sexual morality, from the McGee case on contraception and his own move to Derry to obtain a UK divorce that was illegal here, to the referendums that made abortion and blasphemy constitutionally lawful.
Having lived in Derry during the Troubles, he describes how the IRA murdered his friend Terence McKeever for doing electrical work for the RUC. Having worked in property development during the Celtic Tiger, he covers the EU, the financial crash, the Troika, and austerity.
True to the often quirky nature of Irish Times letters, he examines the relative merits of wine corks versus screw-caps, promotes books as props for reading the newspaper at breakfast, and engages in a detailed readers’ debate on the physics of raindrops.
His advice to letter-writers: avoid preambles, keep the letter short, and write on one subject. Also, compose and send it immediately you become aware of the trigger, even if you have to break off from your breakfast to write it.
As a declaration of interest, Seamus refers positively to the work of Atheist Ireland in his letters and his book. He also wrote an article for Atheist Ireland following the Mother and Baby Homes report in 2021.
From the United Kingdom
A provocative review of the shaping of Ireland’s identity as expressed through letters to the editor
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 December 2025
Format: Kindle Edition
I remember reading some of the letters that appear in this book when they were originally published in the Irish Times. I also remember thinking that sometimes they were quite verbose and had longer than necessary sentences. Reading them again, I have the same feeling and sometimes they require quite a lot of focus to fully grasp the content, however, I think that was part of the style that was adopted by many of the writers of letters to the editor of that newspaper. As a collection though, these letters provide a really interesting view of the changes that occurred in Ireland during the time that I grew up and became an adult and saw us evolve into a more cosmopolitan and modern society.
The letters themselves were obviously curated by or on behalf of an editor, however the book itself appears not to have been edited by a professional and could’ve done with a little tidying. Despite this it’s a really good read, I particularly enjoyed the author’s scene setting and backstory which accompanies each of the letters which he managed to have published. It is after all quite an achievement to have had 60 odd letters published by a paper of the prestige of the Irish Times, and overall this collection is very informative and readable.
Being of a similar generation and Humanist in my values I find I share many of Seamus McKenna’s views, and have done so over many years. I don’t agree with everything but I’m certainly glad that he didn’t keep his opinions to himself and I’m equally glad that he decided to publish them in this form. I can think of a few people who would enjoy this book as a Christmas gift. I should mention that if I were a believer in Catholic or any organised religion, deity, or supernatural entities I might find this book challenging but still enlightening.
