Women affected by rape are due to share their stories at public meetings next week, to explain why they believe abortion is not the answer when a child is conceived in rape. Unbroken Ireland, an initiative which gives a voice to those impacted by pregnancy after rape, is hosting the events in Dublin and Cork.…
Ireland has enough Catholic schools and doesn’t need more, the head of Ireland’s largest teaching union has said. Mr John Boyle, president of the INTO, later said he was referring only to Catholic primary schools. Mr Boyle also said that despite what the Archbishop of Dublin has said about divestment he doesn’t believe a large…
A Loreto sister originally from Co. Antrim has received the highest honour granted by the Peruvian state in recognition of her contribution to education. Sr Patricia McLaughlin, who has been ministering in Peru since 2000, has been presented with the 2017 Palmas Magisteriales Award on behalf of the Fe y Alegria School where she is…
Technology-savvy priests are unlikely to put away their smartphones any time soon, despite advice from the Vatican’s liturgy chief. Speaking in Rome’s Angelicum University last week, Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah warned that while it may be practical and convenient to pray the daily prayer of the Church on mobile phones or other electronic devices, doing…
Jacob Rees-Mogg is a colourful if somewhat eccentric member of the British Conservative Party. While still a backbencher and just seven years in the House of Commons, Mr Rees-Mogg is being tipped by some as a potential future Prime Minister. This would be quite something, since he would become Britain’s first Catholic Prime Minister. Unlike…
It’s the question priests most hate to hear: “How much is a Mass, Father?” Most priests have a standard explanation for reply, about Mass being a pearl of great price, an event of inestimable value, that the Mass can’t be bought or sold (and that attempts to trade in religious things have gotten the Church…
Irish people, as we all know, have a great grá for local legends, indeed any kind of local lore. In the poetry of W. B. Yeats, Queen Maeve, though supposedly buried on the frowning peak of Knocknarea, might be still a living person. Yeats deep interiorisation of old traditions of a locality is not unique.…
I Die in a Good Cause: Thomas Ashe: A Biography Sean Ó Luing (Mercier Press, €14.99) J. Anthony Gaughan In his introduction to this new edition of Seán Ó Lúing’ a biography of the patriot Thomas Ashe, Prof. Joe Lee speculates on the kind of influence Thomas Ashe would have exerted on the independence movement…
An Underground Theatre: Major Playwrights in the Irish Language 1930-1980 Philip O’Leary (University College Dublin Press, €50.00) Anthony Roche This important book is not a history of Irish language drama; that already exists in Pádraig Ó Siadhail’s 1993 Stair Dhrámaoícht na Gaeilge 1900-1970. Rather, Philip O’Leary critically highlights five significant playwriting careers in Irish: Mairéad Ní Ghráda;…
Ever since January, when this independent film about a struggling rap singer premiered at Sundance – ‘indie’ works tend to shine there – it’s been the talk of the industry. It was taken up by the distributor Fox Searchlight and the rest is history. Not being a great lover of rap music – I’ve never…
Mags Gargan
Greg Daly
Michael Kelly
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone