John Moriarty: Grounded in Story, Edited by Amanda Carmody and Mary McGillicuddy (The Lilliput Press, €25.00 / £21.50)   The mystic John Moriarty is one of modern Ireland unique writers, but he achieved this position through a life of varied and equally unique experiences. John Moriarty was born in Moyvane, near Listowel, Co. Kerry, on…

This book is a labour of love.  At the outset the author reveals how he first became aware of the existence of Gordon Brewster. 

Autumn Blooms: A Selection of Stories, Poetry and Parable by Paddy Glavin, Cyril Kelly, John Fitzgerald (Copies are available from Woulfe’s Independent Bookshop, 7 Church Street Listowel, Co. Kerry;  email: woulfesbookshop@gmail.com;  phone (068) 21021;  €12, with a special postage rate of €6.80). Listowel Writers Week, the premier locally led and sustained literary festival in Ireland is…

Consecration to St Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, by Donald H. Calloway MIC (Marian Press, £13.60)   This is a book promoting devotion to St Joseph, making it very suitable reading in this week after the celebration of the Feast of St Joseph the Worker. The steadfast member of the Holy Family, Joseph…

Going for Glory, Irish Style Chasing Sam Maguire; The All-Ireland Football Championship 1928-1977 by Dermot Reilly and Colm Keys, foreword  by Larry McCarthy  (The O’Brien Press, €34.99 /  £32.99) This is a comprehensive account of the All-Ireland Senior Football finals from 1928 to 1977.  On each occasion the teams competed for the Sam Maguire Cup.…

A love of home, ‘one’s own place’, is said to have characterised Irish people from the earliest days. These days, when people remove themselves to as far away as the Antipodes, there is still, even in the sunshine of Bondi Beach, that melancholy longing for the old place at home. How we lived in the past is…