▁national ist , ▁Mc Car thy ▁was ▁opposed ▁to ▁the ▁increasing ▁social ▁influence ▁of ▁the ▁Roman ▁Catholic ▁Church ▁in ▁Ireland , ▁on ▁the ▁approach ▁to ▁Irish ▁independence . ▁ ▁As ▁the ▁Catholic ▁Church ▁still ▁controls ▁most ▁Irish ▁schools ▁and ▁univers ities , ▁his ▁books ▁and ▁independent ▁st ance ▁have ▁not ▁received ▁much ▁attention ▁in ▁the ▁last ▁century . ▁ ▁They ▁were ▁best - s ellers ▁in ▁their ▁day , ▁having ▁an ▁influence ▁on ▁comment ators ▁such ▁as ▁James ▁Joy ce . ▁He ▁described ▁his ▁books ▁on ▁Ireland ▁as ▁soci ology . ▁ ▁He ▁also ▁wrote ▁a ▁novel ▁( G allow glass ) ▁and ▁a ▁book ▁on ▁the ▁emer ging ▁power ▁of ▁Japan ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 5 . ▁ ▁His ▁method ▁was ▁to ▁extract ▁statistics ▁showing ▁how ▁Irish ▁pover ty ▁from ▁the ▁ 1 8 7 0 s ▁was ▁largely ▁caused ▁by ▁the ▁large ▁don ations ▁often ▁made ▁by ▁poor ▁and ▁under ed uc ated ▁Irish ▁C athol ics ▁to ▁the ▁Church . ▁He ▁wor ried ▁that ▁nobody ▁was ▁prepared ▁to ▁critic ise ▁the ▁way ▁the ▁Church ▁spent ▁its ▁money , ▁and ▁that ▁its ▁emphas is ▁on ▁religious ▁dev otion ▁was ▁sa pping ▁the ▁self - re liance ▁of ▁the ▁population . ▁ ▁He ▁mentioned ▁that ▁though ▁the ▁Irish ▁Catholic ▁population ▁had ▁slowly ▁decl ined ▁by ▁ 2 7 % ▁between ▁ 1 8 6 1 ▁and ▁ 1 9 0 1 , ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁its ▁pri ests , ▁n uns ▁and ▁b ish ops ▁had ▁increased ▁by ▁ 1 3