You can use this page to symbolically and informally announce your leaving of any religion, and put on record your reasons for doing so.
This has no impact on any church or other religious organisations internal view of your religious standing, but is a way for you to identify as no longer being a member of that religion.
The Background…
In Ireland, before 2011, there was a way to formally record that you were no longer a Roman Catholic and request the church to record that fact. Over 12,000 people started this “Declaration of Defection” process.
Cormac Flynn, Paul Dunbar and Grainne O’Sullivan were the pioneers of a website called CountMeOut. This enabled Irish people to record their defection from the Catholic Church.
In 2011, the Catholic Church changed church law and removed the option to record formal defections. Cormac, Paul, and Grainne closed the website and transferred maintenance of the project to Atheist Ireland. We renamed it NotMe.ie.
Atheist Ireland now maintains the project here providing an opportunity for people to symbolically announce their leaving of any religion, not just Catholicism. Atheist Ireland is an Irish Advocacy organisation that does not recognise church law, or state submission to church law. We promote atheism, reason and an ethical society where the state does not support, finance or give special treatment or privilege to any religion.
Simply complete the form below giving your reason for defecting from your religion. Once approved, your name and defection will be published within the pages below. Your email address will not be shown on this website, and will only be used by our Moderator if we need to contact you about your defection.
Click on the links below to read some of the messages written by over 2000 defectors, or if you have already sent in a defection, find your own personal message within these pages.
| Name | Date | Reason for defection |
|---|---|---|
| Leigh Arthur | 28 May 2018 | Do not believe in this church's teachings. Desire to see a separation of church and state. The oppression of women in ethos. The torture and cruelty inflicted upon, especially, women and children in Mother and baby homes. Tuam. Ann Lovett. Countless untold stories of abuse and cruelty by priests throughout the world, of which the pope and all his cardinals are knowledgable and active participants in the cover up of abuse. Zero accountability. |
| Laura Campbell | 30 April 2023 | No longer hold the beliefs of the Catholic Church and oppose their influence and control over the education of our children. Also oppose their influence on important matters such as same sex relationships and abortion rights. |
| Jane Dickson | 30 May 2018 | I was signed up for membership of this organisation when I was an infant. I have never taken part in their rituals as an adult. I do not wish to be counted as a member. Religion means nothing to me and I don't want to be bound by its laws. |
| Kevin Fahy | 23 April 2017 | I don't believe in any gods. |
| Stephen Hanrahan | 26 February 2018 | i'm an old gay witch, and theres a lot of anti gay talks from men in dresses holding gold crosses while children starve , discourage the use of contraceptives in countries where aids runs rampant and so many other policies i find abborant |
| Rachel Martin | 09 August 2015 | Intelligence and logic. Lack of belief of a man sitting in the sky. |
| Colm Mc Grath | 06 November 2018 | No longer believe in a god, but I do believe that humanity can do better without religions and in fact that we need to move away from religions in order that we can work together for all humanity. |