The Root of All Evil: The Irish Boundary Commission, by Cormac Moore (Irish Academic Press, €22.99 / £20.00) In the negotiations between Irish and British leaders in 1921 that brought the War of Independence to an end and culminated in the Treaty that created the Irish Free State, there were two central issues: the extent…
There’s been a lot written about falling birth rates in the United States. Less covered has been the simultaneous decline in grandparenthood. Grandparents, to hear friends tell it, are an endangered species. Virtually every child-bearing demographic group except women over 40 is having fewer, if any, children. And let’s be honest: Potential grandparents with children…
Just before Christmas we were delighted to welcome Dr Eilis Humphreys into the offices of The Irish Catholic to record an interview for our new podcast, Education Nation. The first episode, which drops later this month, is a fascinating and personal insight into the career of one of the leading figures in Irish education over the last three decades. In the interview Eilis shares with us some of the foundations of her love of teaching and learning and her passion for all things education. Along the way she…
A parochial response to combating loneliness in nursing homes The new year provides a unique opportunity to reflect upon who our neighbours might include. Those living around us immediately spring to mind, while those living in nursing homes are rarely considered unless they are family members or close friends. Yet loneliness is one of…
Listowel Food Fair: Tríoche Bliain ag Fás (Thirty Years a-Growing) 1995-2025, edited by James Deenihan and Annette McElligot (Listowel Food Fair, €20 + €4.00 p&p; email James Deenihan: info@listowelfoodfair.ie; copies locally from Woulfe’s Bookshop, 7 Church Street, Listowel) The Listowel Food Fair was established in 1995 by a committee headed by Jimmy Deenihan. However, much…
When most people think of Irish emigration, a familiar map unfolds in the mind. Today, the great draws are Melbourne and Sydney; in the 1970s and ’80s, it was London’s endless sprawl. Before that, the tide of Irish migration flowed powerfully toward North America, filling the streets of Chicago, shaping the neighbourhoods of Boston, and…
Pope Leo has been a very vocal figure this year when it comes to technology and especially the usage of AI. Recently, he spoke to students in Indianapolis regarding the harmfulness of AI and how students should focus on their own capabilities vs a machine’s brain and power. AI has definitely made a splash in…
On News at One (RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday) former Haiti hostage Gena Heraty spoke of her ordeal, and more strikingly showed her forgiving attitude towards her captors. She feels sad for them even though they had her petrified her, and prays for them regularly. Haiti is still a country in turmoil she said, but life…
What would Jesus say? Dear Editor, the Lord Jesus was Jewish, born in Bethlehem, which is now in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. One wonders if He were walking the roads of His native land today, what would he say and do? Judging by His life as recorded in the Bible, we know that…
Deirdre Morley is in the news at the moment because of a brouhaha involving the release of her psychiatric records relating to the inquest into her children’s deaths. You may remember she suffocated her three sons in 2020 and was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. The theme of infanticide in popular culture has…
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone