Pious and promiscuous: Life, love and family in Presbyterian Ulster

Drawing on records produced by the Presbyterian church courts and a combination of personal papers, diaries and family correspondence, Leanne Calvert traces the experiences of Presbyterian women and men in eighteenth-century Ulster from the cradle to the grave.  She casts light on their everyday experiences, bringing to life for the first time for a general audience stories of lovelorn courting couples, runaway apprentices, warring husbands and wives, paternity disputes, troublesome youths and grieving spouses. Step into the intimate worlds of Presbyterian women and men who lived, loved and laboured in long-eighteenth-century Ulster. Drawing on letters, diaries, newspapers and church court records, this book reveals the personal moments that shaped the rhythms and rituals of Presbyterian family life. From anxious parents and lovesick courting couples to rebellious youths, unfaithful spouses and grieving widows, these stories bring to life the full range of human experience. Pious and Promiscuous offers a vivid and previously unseen glimpse into how ordinary people navigated life’s most significant milestones as members of a closely knit religious community. Their stories may make you laugh, gasp or even shed a tear, as you encounter the colourful – and oftentimes messy – lives of Ulster’s Presbyterians.

• | Author: Leanne Calvert
• | Publisher: Royal Irish Academy
• | Publication Date: Oct 14, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Book
• | ISBN-13: 9781802050394
• | ISBN-10: 1802050396