The poll, conducted for the Irish religious think tank The Iona Institute, showed that 28 per cent of those polled said they had a "very unfavourable" view of the Church, while 19 per cent said their view was "mostly unfavourable." Just eight per cent reported that their view of Catholicism was "very favourable," with 16 per cent saying that had a "mostly favourable" view. A quarter had no view either way.

Fifty-eight per cent of those ages 45-54 hold the most-unfavourable view, compared with 46 per cent of those ages 25-34.

Overall, 46 per cent of those surveyed believe Church teaching is still relevant; 55 per cent of those who self-identified as Catholics agreed that Church teaching is of benefit to Irish society.

John Murray, a theologian at the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, told Catholic News Service that "having an unfavourable view of the Church doesn't necessarily mean that person is anti-Catholic per se."

"The poll indicates that around a quarter of the population can be put in this category. That is quite a high percentage, but given the huge amount of understandable anger at the Church because of the scandals, perhaps it is surprising the number isn't higher than that," Murray said.

Since 2005, the Irish Catholic Church and various dioceses have been the subject of four different independent inquiries into physical and sexual abuse and its cover-up. Irish government officials had strong words about the Vatican, which recalled and reassigned its ambassador.

Irish Catholics are currently awaiting the report of an apostolic visitation ordered by Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican says the report of the visitation — conducted by senior prelates, including Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto and Terrence Prendergast, S.J., of Ottawa — will "assist the local Church on her path of renewal."

The Vatican has announced that it expects to publish an "overall synthesis indicating the results and the future prospects highlighted by the visitation" in early 2012.