At the turn of the eighteenth century, some of the Huguenot descendants became involved in Irish societies promoting the dissemination of the Bible and the education of the poor in the vernacular, thus defying British and Anglican authorities’ earlier reluctance, as well as Catholic prohibitions. This article explores how the Huguenot heritage played a part in these initiatives, and how the memory of past persecutions was invoked in their response to the Catholic clergy’s reactions towards this new attempt to protestantise Ireland. In so doing, it questions the different calls for religious freedom and tolerance.