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    Queering the pulpit: catholic clergy and media celebrity in the Republic of Ireland


    Kerrigan, Páraic and Pramaggiore, Maria (2022) Queering the pulpit: catholic clergy and media celebrity in the Republic of Ireland. Celebrity Studies, 13 (1). pp. 73-89. ISSN 1939-2397

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    Abstract

    This article examines the unlikely ways that media celebrity enabled priests and nuns in Ireland to make gay and lesbian identities visible. Despite the fact that sex among men was criminalised in Ireland until 1993, Catholic priests and nuns during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s used their mass media celebrity to make same-sex desire and LGBTQIA+ identities visible in popular media, especially through the public service broadcaster RTÉ. The article examines three case studies in which priests and nuns ‘queered the pulpit,’ harnessing their public personas to affirm LGBTQIA+ identities across various Irish media platforms in ways that were surprisingly tolerant, given Catholic orthodoxy. The article speaks to the paucity of research regarding religious personalities as celebrities. The omission of religious figures from the celebrity studies literature is noteworthy, particularly in the Irish context, where broadcast media has been a potent site for cultivating clergy celebrity. The article’s focus on religious celebrities who gave voice to LGBTQIA+ lives and concerns in the Irish context also reframes the traditional narrative of the relationship between media and Catholic clergy, which has often been characterised solely in terms of scandal

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: Cite as: Kerrigan, P. and Pramaggiore, M., 2022. Queering the pulpit: catholic clergy and media celebrity in the Republic of Ireland. Celebrity Studies, 13(1), pp.73-89.
    Keywords: Clergy celebrity; catholic celebrity; media celebrity; Irish media; Irish celebrity
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies > Media Studies
    Item ID: 16689
    Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2020.1842775
    Depositing User: Maria Pramaggiore
    Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2022 11:59
    Journal or Publication Title: Celebrity Studies
    Publisher: Taylor & Francis online
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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