Sir, – Declan Kelly (Letters, March 15th) suggests a parallel between the role of rats in the introduction of plagues to Europe and the role of the Catholic Church in having "introduced cruelty into our culture".
The logical conclusion of such an implication is to see the Penal Laws as having been a benevolent force which, if maintained, would have spared Ireland much misery. – Yours, etc,
JOHN P McCARTHY, PhD,
Professor Emeritus of History,
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Fordham University, New York.