Actually the Irish Free State (and then the Republic) were, for much of the 20th century, heavily dominated by the Catholic Church, and very, very socially conservative. Its only been recently that that has (for very depressing reasons) ceased to be a major factor in Irish life. I'm sorry if it sounds like its code for Tumblr/SJWs, but to me it sounds like Ireland is finally getting over its 20th century past.