Introduction

Two of the most striking features of both Polish and Irish society in modern Europe are the religiosity of their citizens and their inclination towards emigration. Indicators of Polish religiosity surpass statistically measured religious attitudes in other Western and Eastern European countries (Pew Research Center 2017; 2018). For centuries large streams of migrants have been leaving Poland as a response to dramatic historical circumstances. Under the recent definition of migrants as ‘those staying for at least one year in a country other than their country of birth’, Poland, with 2.9 million emigrants since 2010s, (Polish Foreign Ministry 2015; Pew Research Center 2012, p. 29) ranks 7th in the world as a country of out-migration.

As in former times, recent migration from Poland has been largely motivated by economic factors, such as the desire for ‘money and jobs’ which encourages people to leave Poland and to move abroad (Slany 2014, p. 15). That is why the so called ‘post-accession’ era of Polish migration is most often studied from an economic perspective with a special focus on labor and financial transfers (Grabowska 2016), corresponding to its frequent designation as ‘labor migration’ (Kaczmarczyk 2018). In this context, migrants are characterized as oriented toward securing jobs and earning money (Frelak and Grot 2013, p. 60). A growing focus in migration studies is directed towards the settlement motivations of Polish migrants; about 16% of Polish emigrants in 2011 declared emigration was due to family bonds (Slany 2014, p. 15).

Polish mass migration to the Republic of Ireland was initiated in 2004 when Poland entered the European Union and, as a consequence, the Irish labor-market was opened up to citizens of other EU member countries. According to the Irish census of 2016, there were 122,515 people with Polish ancestry resident in Ireland in that year. Given that the population of the Republic of Ireland was only 4.8 million in 2016, Poles constituted a relatively important social group (3%) within Irish society, and were the largest foreign community. Polish migration to Ireland is a special case in comparison to other destinations (Kivisto 2014), because it includes only one generation of Polish citizens and Ireland is a relatively similar religious context.

The Relationship between Social Activity and Religiosity in Migration

The patterns of adaptation of Polish migrants to other Western European countries vary, in line with processes operating within Polish society itself, due to changes in the relationship between national and religious identity as experienced by the migrants once outside Poland (Kapinos 2018, p. 138). Studies focusing on their religiosity highlight that Polish migrants share similar patterns of relationship to the Catholic Church as Catholics who stay in Poland (Botterill 2012, p. 202). Generally it is assumed that migration results in a process of liberalization and the individualization of religiosity (White 2018, p. 187). Marta Trzebiatowska claims that in the case of Polish migrants, their religious life is strongly affected by ‘religion-national mythologies’ as ‘Catholicism is a symbolic extension of their national identity’ (2010, p. 1059) Thus she links certain religious expectations with particular national identities. In other words, the typical Polish form of Catholicism tends to impede migrants’ integration within Catholic communities outside Poland. What is more, Polish migrants to the United Kingdom exemplify Górny and Osipovič’s typology of Rubicon refugees (2006), that is, those who are not particularly interested in political considerations and are not psychologically engaged with the new society, as was the case with previous waves of Polish migrants in general.

From this perspective of individualization and liberalization, migration liberates Polish Catholics from Polish religious norms (Krotofil 2013, p. 204). For some Polish migrants who search for autonomy and freedom from former moral restrictions, migration may be a strategy for escaping from family control or domestic violence (Botterill 2012). However, their arrival at a new destination does not, in fact, liberate them from social expectations. Even in a new country they may face social expectations from the local community to be religious and practice their Catholic faith (Botterill 2012, p. 202).

Research confirms that religiosity in Poland generates a form of ‘bonding social capital’ where the bonding is enclosed within the limits of the parish and is restricted to social bonds within the religious community rather than local civil society (Putnam 2000; Sadlon 2014). The ‘bonding’ religious social capital of Polish Catholics contrasts with what is found in studies on the relationship between religiosity and social activity in non-Polish cultural contexts (e.g. Graf Strachwitz 2020; Wuthnow 1996; Yeung 2017). Despite some nuanced differences it is generally assumed that religiosity motivates and inspires social participation and activity (Pew 2018). Instead, when Poles leave Poland their religiosity stimulates them to engage in Polish Catholic organizations at the new destination.

In countries where members of the Catholic Church are a minority within a highly pluralized society (such as Norway), Polish Catholics may be welcomed as they supplement local parish numbers (Erdal 2017). In the case of Polish migrants in Norway, belonging to the Polish Catholic community represents a way of ‘taming space’. Engaging in familiar Church rituals enables Polish migrants to feel safe and sheltered (Gmaj 2018, p. 176). Some other studies suggest that the social activity of religious Polish migrants may result from the new social and religious opportunities in Ireland. Catholic organizations enable migrants to live their religious lives in much the same way as they did in their homeland (Levitt 2004; Sun and Cadge 2013).

In general, however, the impact of religious organizations on post-accession Polish emigrants is rather weak. Catholic organizations have played a comparatively small role in the social inclusion of Polish immigrants in the UK. ‘Traditional Polish ethnic associations and institutions, especially the Polish Catholic Church, have been rather slow in reacting to and assisting the newcomers.’ (Garapich 2008, p. 744) According to Garapich’s research, this is because ‘Polish Catholic Church’ organizations in the UK are more interested in ‘maintaining dominant positions and their symbolic power than offering advocacy, support networks or a common platform of inter-generational communication’ to migrant Poles (2008, p. 744).

Studies of the social activity of Polish migrants in the Republic of Ireland confirm the national and ethnic characteristics of their religiosity. Polish migrants to the Republic of Ireland identify Polish Catholicism as restrictive and confining. ‘Migration liberates Polish migrants from these traditional structures and cultural norms’ (Sadlon 2021, 172). Their level of participation in the civil organizations, associations or clubs does not exceed 5% and is lower than when they migrate to other European countres (Lesińska, Kloc-Nowak, Pszczółkowska 2019).

Focus of the Study and Hypotheses

In this research I focus on the social activity of Polish migrants in the new social milieu in which they start to live after coming to the Republic of Ireland. The central question focuses on the correlation between social activity and changing religiosity of the newcomers to Irish society. In other words, my research question concerns to what extent different patterns of religiosity emerge among Polish migrants once in the Republic of Ireland, when they are detached from their traditional social framework and start to live in the new Irish social and cultural setting. And how do these patterns correlate with their social activity.

Studying social activity of Polish migrants from the perspective of change in religiosity means answering the question of whether religiosity is a disruptive element that either alienates immigrants from engaging in social activity or, instead, stimulates them towards more social engagement. However, before answering the question concerning the link between social activity and religiosity, it is crucial to study how migration affects religiosity. Does migration to Ireland impact upon Polish people by ‘theologizing’ their religious life (Massey and Higgins 2011; Smith 1978) or precipitating a decline in religious activity? Therefore, my first hypothesis is formulated as follows:

Hypothesis 1

Migration does not determine the direction of religious change but instead triggers new opportunities for shaping and transforming the migrant’s religiosity. Not only is migration associated with a decline in religiosity but it can also transform and revive forms of religiosity.

My research focus concerns the relationship between the change in religiosity and social activity, when Polish citizens ‘enter’ into the Irish cultural system. Studies on the social activity of Polish Catholics whilst in Poland and after migration, suggest that the religiosity that was formed in the Polish cultural context should tend to stimulate detachment from social engagement in the new social configuration in Ireland. Therefore, my second hypothesis is formulated as follows:

Hypothesis 2

The religiosity of Polish migrants is accompanied by lower levels of social activity in the new social context.

Method

Migrant populations are rarely explored in a systematic, statistical way due to the fact that they are diffused and very often hidden within the fixed population. In the case of Ireland however, the residential pattern of the population of Polish migrants is clearly revealed by the national census, as Polish migrants live and work with full legal status and, unlike some migrant groups in the West, do not withhold personal data from public services. Therefore, it is possible for me to implement statistical methods to investigate the relationship between change in religiosity and social activity, using a case study of the Polish population that migrated to the Republic of Ireland after Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004.

Participants and Procedure

In this article, I present the results of quantitative research on Polish migrants in the Republic of Ireland; this group has been under-studied in comparison with Polish minorities in other European countries, and especially in Great Britain. The methodology of the research includes a survey based on Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) (Salganik 2006; Salganik and Heckathorn 2004; Tyldum 2020), conducted in 2018 and 2019. Salganik and Heckathorn (2004) demonstrated that chain-referrals based on social networks even within ‘hidden’ populations (for instance, those which are exclusive, rare or marginalized) can yield accurate estimates of population proportions (that is, representative samples of hidden populations) for sociological research, and similarly Tyldum (2020) demonstrated the application of RDS to the study of marginalized migrant populations. Here, the use of RDS has resulted in a sample of 520 adult (18 years old and over) Polish migrants that can be interpreted as representative of the Polish diaspora in Ireland.

The research combined ‘snowball sampling’ with a mathematical model. Initial recruits were located in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Cavan. Initially packages of questionnaires were distributed to individual Polish migrants through the contact point of Polish schools throughout the country. Participants in the research were asked to circulate a bundle of questionnaires to three other Polish migrants whom they knew. This transfer was repeated until the referral chain had expanded up to the methodologically significant level of five transfers. This process generated 520 as the final number of respondents and the final sample included only those respondents from the fifth ‘generation’, according to the Respondent-Driven Sampling methodology. The distribution of demographic characteristics in the sample was compared with existing 2016 census data on the Polish diaspora in Ireland. The distribution of most general statistical indicators in the sample was fully consistent with indicators from the Polish migrant cohort in the census of 2016. The most significant disadvantage of this method, as opposed to a method such as face-to-face interviewing, was the high level of respondents who decided to answer ‘hard to say’ in the multiple-choice questions concerning religiosity.

Measures

The study requires taking into account not only social activity but also the change in religiosity of the Polish migrants. The composite variable of SOCIAL ACTIVITY included in this study is built upon classical measures of social participation. The indicators used to measure SOCIAL ACTIVITY included: belonging to social organizations, either for migrants (1) or for the Irish (2); social activities, aimed at migrants only (3) or local projects (4); and participating in local elections (5). Belonging to immigrant social organizations was measured by responses to the simple question: “Do you belong to any Polish migrant organizations in Ireland?” The response options were: 0 = no; 1 = yes. Belonging to an Irish social organization was measured by responses to the question, “Do you belong to any Irish local or national organizations?” The response options were: 0 = no; 1 = yes.

Participation in social activities aimed at migrants was measured by responses to the question: “Do you participate in activities or social programs aimed at migrants?” The response options were: 1 = often; 2 = rarely; 3 = never; 4 = hard to say; and these were coded with the binary codes (1 and 2 = “1”; 3 and 4 = “0”). Participation in local activities were measured by responses to the question: “Do you participate in local social programs or in the activities of local communities in Ireland?”. The response options were: 1 = often; 2 = rarely; 3 = never; 4 = hard to say; and these were coded with the binary codes (1 and 2 = “1”; 3 and 4 = “0”). And finally, participation in local elections was measured by responses to the question: “Have you participated in local elections in Ireland?” The response options were: 0 = no; 1 = yes. The composite variable of SOCIAL ACTIVITY consists of the simple sum of all the above listed indicators that ranged from “0” (negative or no change) to “5” (positive change).

As mentioned before, the study distinguishes SOCIAL ACTIVITY directed only within the migrants’ own context and SOCIAL ACTIVITY directed at the wider Irish context. Two of the five SOCIAL ACTIVITY measures included in the questionnaire were divided into two sub-categories, two concerning migrant organizations and participation in socal activities aimed at migrants, and the remaining three measures – participation in Irish organizations, in local projects and in local Irish elections – concerned the Irish context. These two composite sub-variables of SOCIAL ACTIVITY consist similarly of the simple sum of all the above listed indicators and range from “0” (negative or no change) to “2” or “3” (positive change) respectively.

The composite variable of CHANGE IN RELIGISITY included in this study is built upon classical measures of religiosity but applied from a dynamic perspective. The variables used to measure the composite variable CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY included: (1) frequency of religious service attendance; (2) frequency of private prayer; (3) self-assessment of religiosity ; (4) participation in a prayer group; (5) self-assessment of change in individual religiosity after coming to Ireland.

(1) The frequency of religious service attendance was measured by responses to the question, “How would you classify your attendance at religious services (e.g. Holy Mass) before and after leaving Poland?”. The response options were: 1 = every day; 2 = every Sunday; 3 = once or twice a month; 4 = no more than once a year; 5 = only several times a year; 6 = only in important holidays; 7 = only on the occasion of a wedding, funeral etc.; 8 = never. All responses that showed a decline in the person’s religious attendance, that is, their response concerning attendance at religious services in Ireland indicated a lower frequency of attendance than in Poland (which means a higher number in the data sheet) were coded as “0”, which included also cases where “8” (never) was recorded both for Poland and Ireland. All responses that included at least declared stability (higher or the same score) for religious attendance were coded as “1”.

(2) The frequency of private prayer was measured by responses to the question, “How would you classify your practice of /prayer or meditation before and after leaving Poland?”. The response options were: 1 = every day; 2 = mostly every day; 3 = several times a week; 4 = several times a month; 5 = several times a year; 6 = once a year or less; 7 = never. Changes in the frequency of private prayer were coded in the same way as changes in the frequency of religious service attendance.

(3) Self-assessment of religiosity was measured by responses to the question “Were you a religious person before leaving Poland?” and “Are you a religious person nowadays?”. The response options were: 1 = definitely yes; 2 = yes, to a certain extent; 3 = it’s hard to say; 4 = not really; 5 = definitely not. Coding changes in self-assessment of religiosity followed the same rules as above.

(4) Participation in a prayer group was measured by responses to the question: Did you participate in a prayer group before leaving Poland?” and “Do you participate in a prayer group nowadays in Ireland?”. The response options were: 1 = yes; 2 = no. Coding changes for participation in prayer groups followed the same rules as above.

(5) The last element included in CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY was measured by the response to the question concerning the assessment of change in individual religiosity after coming to Ireland: “Which category best fits your situation?”. The response options were: 1 = in Ireland my faith has become stronger; 2 = in Ireland my faith has not changed; 3 = in Ireland my faith has declined; 4 = hard to say; 5 = not applicable. Response 1 = in Ireland my faith has become stronger, was coded as “1”, and all others (excluding 5 = not applicable) as “0”.

The composite variable of CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY, used to represent an individual’s change in the levels of practice of their religion after leaving Poland, consists of the simple sum of all the above listed indicators that ranged from “0” (negative or no change) to “5” (positive change).

Other variables analysed in this study included STAY, representing the number of years after arriving in the Republic of Ireland. The variable INCOME represents the declared monthly net income. Included in the questionnaire categories: 0 = no income; 1 = below 1,000 Euro; 2 = between 1,000 and 1,614 Euro; and 3 = between 1,615 and 2,000, were coded as “0” and 4 = between 2,001 and 2,500 Euro; 5 = between 2,501 and 3,000 Euro; 6 = between 3,001 and 3,500 Euro; and 7 = over 3,500 Euro, were coded as “1”. The variable CHILDREN was measured by the questions on the number of children born before, and after, leaving Poland. EDUCATION was classified according to the Polish educational system and coded in such a way that “0” signified secondary education or lower, and “1” signified higher education or higher. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the analysed variables.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the analysed variables
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Analytic Method

The statistical analysis concerns only the degree of ‘change in religiosity’, if any, from the former time in Poland to the present in Ireland, using the abovementioned indicators. Also, demographic characteristics such as age, education, sex, length of stay in Ireland, level of income, total number of children born in Poland and Ireland, are controlled. The analysis opens up an opportunity to statistically verify the hypothesized change in religiosity and the correlation between two composite variables: SOCIAL ACTIVITY and CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY among Polish migrants in Ireland. Data analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS v. 26. The composite variable CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY was correlated with composite variable SOCIAL ACTIVITY. The bivariate correlations between measures of CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY and SOCIAL ACTIVITY were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient. The composite variable SOCIAL ACTIVITY was also examined as a dependent variable in the regression analysis of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) testing the independent associations of the change in religiosity variable and demographic variables on the social activity variable.

Results

Socio-Demographic Characteristics

The RDS-generated data show very similar results to the Irish census data (Statistics Ireland 2017). According to my survey of 2018, the average (arithmetical) age of respondents was 40.7 years, with females representing 49% of Polish migrants and males, 51%Footnote 1. Despite the fact that 45% of Polish migrants, on arrival, planned to stay for no more than 5 years in Ireland, our representative sample of Polish migrants had been living in Ireland for 11 years on average (mode: 12).

In Ireland most adult Polish migrants live with another Polish person, either as a married couple or as partners. Most of them have children also. During their stay in Ireland, they tend to transform their family relationships. The social networks of Polish migrants in Ireland are more likely to include other Poles and Irish people, rather than migrants with other nationalities. Polish migrants declare that they have actively improved their language skills since arriving in Ireland. Most migrants say they prefer educating their children in Irish schools rather than Polish language schools. Migration to Ireland is also strongly related to their search for well-being and an enhanced quality of life. Table 1 in the Appendix shows some of the demographic characteristics of the sample.

Table 2 shows that 86% of the Polish immigrants in my sample declare their affiliation with the Catholic Church. Although the percentage of migrants who do not declare having any religious beliefs is relatively low and does not exceed 15%, in the case of ‘belief in God’ specifically, about 20% do not hold this particular religious belief. It is also worth noting that a number of Polish migrants (about 10%) situate themselves completely outside the Catholic religious system. Once in Ireland, Polish migrants adopt new customs to an extraordinary degree, but a significant section of the Polish migrant community in Ireland still prefer to worship in the Polish language. However in terms of pastoral care, Polish migrants feel no particular attachment to the pastoral services provided by Polish priests within Ireland nor to the Irish pastoral ministry.

Table 2 Frequency table of some religious variables
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Social Activity

As shown in Table 3, 5.8% of Polish migrants declare their participation in migrants’ organizations, much less (33.5%) than those taking part in any social activities in a migrant context. In that 33.5% of Polish migrants in total declare engagement in migrants’ organizations or taking part in any social activities aimed at migrants, this means that the same percentage as these participating in a migrants’ organization (5.8%) declare participating into both forms of migrant engagement (that is, organizations and activities in general). In other words, all migrants in the sample who declared their participation in organizations aimed at migrants take also part in social activity aimed at migrants. However 27.7% declare engagement in only one form of migrants’ SOCIAL ACTIVITY - the non-organizational kind.

Table 3 Frequency table of SOCIAL ACTIVITY
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The second part of Table 3 shows that SOCIAL ACTIVITY within the Irish context is more popular among Polish migrants than activities within the Polish organizational context. The most popular form of this sort of SOCIAL ACTIVITY is participation in local Irish projects (47.1%) followed by participation in local elections (10.4%) and participation in Irish organizations (8.4%). Involvement in these activities are overtlapping: 48.1% of the sample declare engaging in at least one form of such activity from the Irish context, and this breaks down to 34.7% of Poles who participate in only one form of such activities, 9.7% in two forms of activities and 3.8% in three. The percentage of Polish migrants who declare their participation only in Irish organizations while not participating in either local projects or local elections is very low (0.8%), and only 4.4% participate only in local elections.

Different Patterns of Change in Religiosity

When comparing the practice of Catholic religious rituals in Poland and in Ireland, for the group of Polish migrants studied, their degree of participation in all aspects of religious institutions was lower in Ireland as compared to their time in Poland. Polish migrants in Ireland are generally less religious than Polish citizens who remain in their homeland. The religiosity of Polish citizens is subject to change when they leave their country.

Table 4 Frequency table of change in religiosity
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As Table 4 shows, the largest group (34%) in our sample, taken as representative of the Polish population in Ireland, declare their religious attitudes have remained stable over the pre- and post-migration period. However, despite the fact that they claim to maintain the same level of religiosity, when asked about practical aspects of religious life, a decline in their practice of religious activities can be observed. Catholic religious beliefs are commonly accepted within this group: more than 80% believe in God and 75% declare belief in life after death. What has declined especially is attendance at church rituals organized in local parishes, especially Holy Mass. Of those in the sample, 36% claimed to attend Holy Mass nearly every Sunday in Poland but this decreased to no more than 24% when they came to Ireland. Once in Ireland, this group of Polish migrants tends to observe the basic religious rituals (such as prayer) individually and within the family, but their engagement in such rituals is irregular and limited to the family network.

In contrast to a larger group who declare the stability of their religious beliefs, about 18% of the Polish migrant sample say that they have experienced a decline in their religiosity since coming to Ireland. The most notable difference between this group and these declaring no religious change is the decline in their attendance at parish church rituals. While 34% of them claim to have attended Holy Mass nearly every Sunday in Poland, this figure decreased to only 3% in Ireland. Other aspects of their religiosity such as cultivating traditional family rituals and religious beliefs were comparable with the first group.

Different from the majority of Polish migrants are a small group (about 7%) who declare they have experienced a revival in their Catholic religiosity since migrating to Ireland. The migrants who could be classified as belonging to this group were already the most religious in Poland itself: 57% claim to have attended Holy Mass nearly every Sunday in Poland; 65% went to confession before Easter; 51% fasted on Fridays; and overall, 73% declared themselves to be ‘a religious person’ during their former life in Poland. Nearly half of them claim that religiosity affected their decision to migrate; 73% declared that they speak about religion with children; 62% with a husband or wife; and 57% speak about issues of faith with their colleagues. They appear to be well rooted in the religious community: 51% regularly speak about faith with a priest. They search for support in religious communities, not in a social sense, but rather in a religious context. In other words, religious communities provide the support for maintaining their religiosity.

Table 5  A cross-tabulation analysis of different attitudes of Polish migrants in Ireland by assessment of change in individual religiosity after coming to Ireland
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The presented data demonstrate that the first hypothesis should be considered as confirmed since migration is associated with the decline in religiosity but it can also transform and revive a type of religiosity. More detailed comparison of religiosity among the three groups of Polish migrants is presented in Table 5.

Social Activity and Change in Religiosity

The crucial characteristic of the two first groups (that declare stability and decline in religiosity), included in Table 5, is their social activity. In fact, during their stay in the English language environment, members of these groups are more likely than those in the other groups described above to have improved their language skills (after 11 years in Ireland, 82% of the group declaring religious decline claim at least ‘good competence’ in English) and have adapted more easily to Irish customs and rituals (such as Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day) but significantly, these individuals show declining religiosity. Nevertheless, the members of these two groups have no more positive attitudes towards Irish culture, feel no more attached to Ireland and are more likely to keep in touch with other Polish migrants only, and not with Irish acquaintances more than Polish.

These two groups contrast with the group who declare experiencing a religious revival. Members of this group, while being committed to Polish Catholic organizations, are also more engaged in the Irish social context. The most crucial observation concerning this group is the fact that, although 70% prefer attending religious services in Polish rather than in English, they feel quite well integrated within Irish culture. They are more likely to feel attached to both Irish and Polish pastoral centres but the attachment to Polish pastoral organizations is much more prevalent (76%) than to the Irish alternatives (46%). More than half of the group claim that Polish Catholicism has more value than Irish. This does not necessarily mean that the group has hardly adapted to Irish society.

Table 6 Pearson’s bivariate correlations for change in religiosity, social activity and demographic variables
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Instead, this group, who feel themselves to have undergone a religious revival, are better integrated within the Irish cultural system. About 40% declare themselves to ‘like Irish culture’ and 43%, to have ‘many Irish people as colleagues.’ In comparison with 47% of all Polish migrants, 58% take part in local social activities; 14% (in comparison with 10% on average) take part in local Irish elections, and slightly more of them are more likely to participate in Irish local organizations (15% as opposed to 8% in the whole sample). They are also more likely to include Irish people and other nationalities in their social networks and less likely to include Poles. A relatively higher proportion of migrants from this group declare that they belong to migrants’ organizations (19%). The majority (57%) are engaged in social welfare activities for the benefit of migrants in general (22% say this is “often”).

The variations, described above, in the Poles’ attitudes towards the new Irish social and cultural context, depending on their religious attitudes, implies a question about the statistical correlation between change in religiosity and their social activity, understood as their commitment to social roles and organizations in the new Irish context. Table 6 shows that SOCIAL ACTIVITY is positively correlated with CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY (r = 0.22). The composite variable of CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY, defined as the simple sum of the abovementioned indicators, is positively correlated with the number of children (r = 0.18) and sex (r = 0.16), and negatively with the level of income (r = -0.25). The sum of the SOCIAL ACTIVITY indicators correlates positively with the time spent in Ireland (r = 0.31), number of children (r = 0.23) and the level of education (r = 0.11).

The correlations between CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY and SOCIAL ACTIVITY, firstly directed at migrants’ contexts only (participating in migrants’ organizations and taking part in typical migrant social activities) and secondly, directed at the Irish context (participating in Irish organizations, taking part in local Irish projects and in local elections) are statistically significant and positive but the rate of the indicator is higher in the case of measures that concern the migrants’ own context (r = 0.25) rather than the Irish context (r = 0.13).

Table 7 presents the linear regression (OLS) models testing the hypothesized relationship between components of the composite variable CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY and the composite variable SOCIAL ACTIVITY. In the models the composite variable SOCIAL ACTIVITY that includes all variables concerning the social activity of Polish migrants, was tested, and that included these forms of social activity that concern only migrants or that takes place only in the Irish context.

The linear regression analysis (OLS) found a statistically significant relationship between SOCIAL ACTIVITY and CHANGE IN RELIGIOSITY only for Prayer when controlling for demographic characteristics. This positive relationship is significant when the SOCIAL ACTIVITY variable is limited to activity directed ‘at migrants’ or to ‘the Irish context.’ Additionally SOCIAL ACTIVITY directed ‘at migrants’ is positively associated only with ‘participation in a prayer group’ and SOCIAL ACTIVITY directed at the Irish context is positively associated only with ‘religious practices’. Also, SOCIAL ACTIVITY directed at the Irish context is negatively associated with religious self- assessment.

This means that the second hypothesis was falsified as the relationship between social activity and the change in religiosity is to some extent positive. Religiosity is accompanied by higher social activity in the new social context.

Table 7 OLS regression of composite variable SOCIAL ACTIVITY
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Discussion

The analysis presented above reveals two important aspects of the relationship between social activity and change in religiosity. The first one concerns the direction of change in religiosity and the second one – the link between social activity and change in religiosity of Polish migrants in the Republic of Ireland. My research demonstrates that both the change in religiosity of Polish migrants in the Republic of Ireland and the relationship between change in religiosity and social activity are complex.

Migration affects the religiosity of Polish migrants in two directions. The first mode of change in religiosity concerns both migrants who declare ‘no degree of religious change’ in themselves and these who affirm ‘a decline’ in their religiosity. In comparison with Polish migrants who declare themselves as having ‘no religion’, for this group, moving to Ireland was a liberation from traditional Catholic structures and social norms rather than a repudiation of religious values. The members of this group, when they migrate, do not move towards non-religious or even atheistic attitudes but, practically speaking, they become separated from Catholic organizations and institutions. This situation represents the continuity of the process of de-institutionalization already initiated in Poland. Individuals in this group find that the cultural system of the Irish Catholic Church is much less restrictive and normative than in Poland. Such a de-institutionalization process is well established in those with a non-religious orientation. An important conclusion of the analysis includes the fact that the decline in religious attitudes implies a decrease in the social engagement of Polish migrants with Irish culture and society.

The second mode of change in religiosity concerns a minority of Polish migrants who declare themselves to have experienced a religious revival in Ireland. Religiosity is a very important aspect of the migrants’ daily lives and correlates with their social participation, sense of belonging and activism. Individuals within this group experience religious revival but are also more socially committed and active in their interface with the new Irish social context. Thus, new forms of religious and social activity cannot be explained only by the ‘mechanical’ influence of the former Polish or new Irish social contexts. These statistical results confirm that religious revival is accompanied by specific attitudes towards the new social and cultural context that Polish migrants experience. In comparison to some studies (Gallagher and Trzebiatowska 2017) this group does not live out their religiosity outside the institutionalized Catholic context.

Religious commitment among Polish Catholic migrants has been identified in other countries besides Ireland. Joanna Krotofil discovered similar tendencies among Polish migrants in Great Britain. She suggests that the opportunity to break with traditional Polish religious socialization patterns provided by migration results in the fact that ‘religion represents an aspect of identity which is gaining importance among some migrants’ (Krotofil 2013, p. 195). The involvement in Catholic new religious movements by Polish migrants exemplifies how religious change is elaborated in a new cultural system. Her study found that the so-called ‘charismatic movement’ of Catholicism, which has developed in Great Britain especially, recruits Catholics who shape their social and individual identities by participation in specific religious rituals and by involvement with the religious communities of this movement (Krotofil 2013, p. 230).

Such nuanced characterization of change in religiosity is essential for explaining the link between social activity and religiosity. My analysis highlights that the characterization of the link between social activity and religiosity should take into account the complex issues of change in religiosity as exemplified by the case of Polish migrants to the Republic of Ireland. What is more, the study of the link between social activity and religiosity needs to clarify the distinction between the participation of Polish migrants in religious and non-religious organizations. It is especially important to note that there are no independent Polish pastoral structures in Ireland. A Polish pastoral ministry is organized within individual Irish Catholic dioceses, and Polish pastoral centres are organized within Irish parishes*. There are about 30 Polish priests in Ireland, and these Polish priests are delegated by the Polish Bishops in Poland to deliver ministry among Polish migrant communities. As highlighted by the expatriate Polish priests, Irish Catholic organizations do not actively engage in offering services for Polish migrants*, and the strategy of some Polish priests is to encourage Polish Catholics to participate in Irish parishes. However, not all Polish priests agree with this strategy. In some centres, the sacraments are celebrated in Polish. In Dublin every Sunday there continued to be, even in 2019, nine Masses celebrated in Polish as happens in Poland, whereas in Irish parishes there are traditionally only one or two Masses on a Sunday. Polish priests who minister in Ireland recall that after the wave of migration to Ireland began in 2004, Polish migrants searched for social support in the Polish ‘parishes’ there. However, once Polish migrants became well integrated into Irish society, Polish ‘parishes’ did not continue to deliver important social support for Polish migrants.

Migration should not be regarded as only the change of the cultural context. Attitudes of migrants are not only shaped by communication channels and language skills (Frame 2019). But the ability to speak the language of the country to which one emigrates affects the extent to which the migrant may become integrated within the new country. The study confirms that migration is a dynamic and complex process, much more than a static spatial dislocation which shapes social life, as it initiates and results in patterns of adaptation which often include religious change (Diehl and Koenig 2013; Garcia-Muñoz and Neuman 2012; Peschke 2009).

The research on the link between social activity and religiosity of Polish migrants in the Republic of Ireland confirms that Polish migrants to Ireland, who could be said to be swinging on a pendulum (Jaźwińska and Okólski 2001), oscillate between their original religious socialization in Poland and their adaptation to Irish society. What is more, the critical issue of focus here is that the religiosity of migrants, in migrating from Poland to Ireland, is conditioned by both the Polish and Irish contexts. Polish migrants in Ireland, similar to these in Great Britain, share similar patterns of relationship to the Catholic Church as Catholics who stay in Poland (Botterill 2012, p. 202). Before leaving Poland, migrants were enmeshed in their society’s religious context. The patterns of religious change taking place in Ireland should be considered as ‘transnational’ in the context of continuity with religious change initiated in the Polish context. Religiosity can impact not only upon the decision to migrate (Urbańska 2016, p. 52) but also upon attitudes after the decision to leave Poland.

Conclusions and implications

The statistical analysis presented above demonstrates that religious change among Polish migrants is more complex than has often been described. The correlation between the detachment from their traditional local community and religious decline is evident in the case of these Polish migrants. Collected data confirm that religious decline is accompanied by social detachment and the decline in social activity. However, migration not only deconstructs religiosity but, in the group of Polish migrants studied, it was sometimes accompanied by religious renewal and remarkable levels of social activity. Migration does not determine the direction of religious change but instead triggers new opportunities for shaping and transforming their religiosity. Not only is migration associated with the decline of religiosity but it can transform and revive a type of religiosity also.

This quantitative exploration of the Polish migrant population sheds new light on the character of religious change in the relationship to the new social and cultural context in the Republic of Ireland. The data show that the change in social and cultural contexts is associated not only with religious decline and detachment from religious organizations but also with growing religious and, moreover, growing social activity, for different groups within the Polish migrant cohort. My analysis highlights that religiously committed Polish migrants in Ireland represent a socially engaged group not only in the Catholic and Polish context.

The explanation of these statistical facts requires reference to the relationship between the individual and the social context. Religious change among Polish migrants involves not only a direct detachment from local, native social contexts but also emerges in the interplay between a migrant subjectivity and the new social and cultural context. The study confirms both the transnational character of religious change and the fact that religious change, as a consequence of migration, encompasses agential dynamism and emerges from the active interplay between the migrant individual and his or her new social environment. The migration of the Polish population results not only in the erosion of their religiosity but also triggers a dynamism that reveals the adaptative potential of the individual. Statistical methods applied in research on religious change are able to take into account the fact that religiosity is not a deterministic characteristic of individuals but results from the characteristics of the individual and is a matter of their agency. The quantitative analysis highlights some theoretical aspects of the relationship between social activity and religiosity. Changing religiosity results from the interplay between the social context and the individual. This theoretical perspective focuses on the reconfiguration of the migrant’s religious and social attitudes as the result of the interplay between his or her pre-existing individual attitudes and the new social context. Migrants monitor their religiosity within the new society and deal with the dynamic relationship between social roles or organizations (structure) and ideas or beliefs (culture). It other words, studying religious change is more than measuring simple religious growth or decline.

Religiosity should not be studied as an aspect of the passive ‘equipment’ of the individual but rather as pertaining to the individual’s independent properties and capable of exerting autonomous influences’ (Archer 1995). In such an approach migration represents an active process that requires an active ‘socializant’ who is a ‘”strong evaluator” of his or her concerns” (Archer 2013, p. 125) in relations to the new social contexts.