Synodality and the Recovery of Vatican II: A new way for Catholics edited by Stephen J. McKinney, Thomas O’Loughlin & Beáta Tóth (Messenger Publications, €25.00) As the title suggests this is a book with a studied purpose, but whose intentions have been caught up with by the passage of events in a way the editors could not have expected.…
The Golden Thread: The Life and Gifts of Miss Frances Ellis by Patrick Heren (Gracewing, £20.00 / €25.00) The past it was once said is a foreign country: they do things differently there. And so they do as this interesting book about a major benefactor reveals. This is an exploration of a Catholic world Irish readers…
Foreign Languages: Victorian language learning & the shaping of modern Ireland, by Phyllis Gaffney (UCD Press, €30.00 / £25.00) Though intended initially for an academic audience, Dr Phyllis Gaffney’s new book will have an appeal to anyone in any way interested in the evolution of modern Irish culture, not merely literary, but also social and…
Impressionism and its Overlooked Women, curated by Dorthe Vangsgaard Nielsen, and seven contributors (Ordrupgaard, €45.00 / £38.50) The special summer exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland celebrates the women painters of the Impressionist movement in art. The just opened exhibition has been organised by Ordrupgaard in Denmark in collaboration with the National Gallery, and…
Emerging from the Mess, by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds (Messenger Publications, €12.95 / £11.95) The cover of this third book in the series begun with Finding God in the Mess and continued with Deeper into the Mess, brought to mind (for me at least) the words of St John Henry Neman’s poem (only later a hymn), written while…
Caribbean Slave Owners & Other Lesser-Known Histories from County Mayo, by Dr M. M. O’Connor (Published by the author at The Morrigan, Murrisk, Westport, Co. Mayo, €25.00) This is a book which only recently came to my notice, for it was not sent to us for review. Certainly the title captures your attention at…
The Captain and the Saint: The Story of St Oliver Plunkett, by Fintan Tracey (Published by Fintan Tracey, Drogheda, €10.00 plus €2.50 postage, direct from fintansfineart@gmail.com) Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett. This little book by Drogheda-based artist Fintan Tracey is the first small droplet of what will…
Some Occasional Writings 2003-2024, by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €25.00 / £21.50) Reviews and occasional writings are exactly that, articles written to meet a specific occasion. And yet since the 18th century such pieces have provided some of the finest and most entertaining writing available. I relish and reread such collections as Graham…
Keeping the Faith, by Alf McCreary (Messenger Publications, €14.95 / £12.95) This is a sombre and sobering book, one dealing with the Northern situation that could have driven a saint to despair, but it is also a book that carries a final message to never despair, however appalling and inhuman the situation. Alf McCreary tells…
The Yeats Sisters and Irish Design: Making, Identities & Legacies An exhibition in the Long Room of the Old Library, Trinity College, Dublin Currently mounted in the Long Room of the Library at Trinity College is an exhibition on the life and work of the Yeats Sisters, which draws on the immense collection of…