History

The history of NIMMA and the growing recognition of mixed marriage as a positive force goes hand-in-hand. MIxed marrige was a taboo subject. It can now be celebrated. While there is still some way to go before double-belonging becomes a recognised and accepted reality, many advances have been achieved.

The positive force of love is celebrated in the NIMMA publication "Mixed Emotions."

The work of NIMMA and the changes in societal attitudes is traced in the publication "Celebrating the Success, evaluating the impact" as illustrated in this extract:

"It is interesting to note that when reading the history of NIMMA by going through its correspondence and newsletters from the 1970s and 1980s, one is also reading a history of the ecumenical movement in Ireland/Northern Ireland and Great Britain.  NIMMA was at the heart of the conversations taking place at this time and reading these historical records is like reading a primer on the movers and shakers of the ecumenical movement."

The Ne Temere Degree of 19th April 1908 was enthusiastically applied by Irish clergy and required both partners in marriage to promise to bring up all their children as Roman Catholic. In the first half of the 20th century, there were cases in Ireland where the non-Catholic spouse was brought to trial and convicted for not keeping the ‘promises’ and therefore guilty of neglecting one’s children. Conversion was considered to be the easier route when choosing to marry someone of a different tradition.

Thankfully, the requirements regarding the promises were relaxed substantially in 1970 with the passage of Matrimonia Mixta requiring only the Catholic partner to only do what was in one’s power to do, within the marriage, to raising one’s children as Catholic. Intentionally vague, the ruling allowed for flexibility of interpretation that was of benefit to mixed marriage couples. However, it took another thirteen years (1983) before it became enacted and enforced by authorities within the Irish Roman Catholic Church.

NIMMA made oral and written submissions to the Roman Catholic Directory on Mixed Marriages, 6 out of 8 of which were accepted. The most contentious of the 6 accepted, in terms of the division of society it had caused over the last century, was the Promise. The Directory states "The religous upbringing of the child is the joint responsibility of both parents." Today it is for parents to do what is right for them within their marrige. A major grevience has been removed.

Unfortunately, mixed marriages have been equally unpopular by both sides.

Penal Laws in Ireland,which were modelled on the French anti-Huguenot laws, sought to inhibit mixed marriages. Any Protestant marrying a Catholic would be fully subject to Penal Laws. Furthermore, it was a capital offence for a Roman Catholic Priest to officiate at a mixed marriage. A priest was indeed hanged for this in 1726. From 1793 punishment was reduced to a £500 fine, with 6 Catholic prients convicted of celebrating mixed marriages between 1820 and 1832. The statute was repealed in 1833.

At the time the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossary, later Archbishop of Dublin, John Troy declared "marriage between Protestants and Catholics is unlawful, wicked and dangerous. The Penal Laws should not be repealed because they act as a deterrant."

Today the issues are much less theological but remain equally problematic. We have segregated schools, segregated housing, seperate teacher training collages, seperate sports/games and seperate dances/pubs. NIMMA has campaigned against institutionalised apartheid and those in mixed marriages tackle the issues on a daily basis.