From The Starry Plough

One of Connolly's major theoretical contribution was his discussion of the relations between socialism and religion. Connolly's views on that matter are fairly original and atypical. The reason why Connolly engaged with the subject is that a great proportion of the Irish working class was influenced by the Roman Catholic religion. The Catholic hierarchy was trying to keep workers away from socialism by saying that socialism and the Christian religion were incompatible and antagonistic. The priests pointed out that socialism, especially in its Marxist form, was intrinsically bound with materialism and atheism; so it is impossible for workers to be socialist and Christian at the same time.
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