H.M.S TARA, by Richard Burnell, edited by Gareth Rowlands (Holyhead Maritime Museum, £7.95 / €9.50 approx.) The RMS Leinster, an Irish ship operating as a mail-boat, was torpedoed by a German U-boat on October 10, 1918, while outward bound for Holyhead. She sank some 4 nautical miles off the Kish Lightship. The exact number…
Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone: The Art of Friendship, by Niamh MacNally & Brendan Rooney, with texts by Sarah McAulife & Joseph McBrinn (National Gallery, €45.00 / £39.00) In 1924 the young Irish artists Evie Hone and her friend Mainie Jellett held their one and only joint exhibition in the gallery of the Society…
Pope Francis was a quite unique figure, a pastor whose achievements and teachings will come to be more and more appreciated in the decades, even centuries to come. Through him the Catholic Church, perhaps even the wider realm of Christianity as a whole, in all its varieties, may find a new and fitting direction, replete…
Killester: From Medieval Manor to Garden Suburb, by Joseph Brady and Ruth McManus, (Four Courts Press for Dublin City Council, €17.95 / £14.95) This book is one in a series being created under the auspices of Dublin City Council entitled ‘Shaping the Suburbs’ – the old city, say within the circle of the two canals, having…
Rathlin, Portrait of an Island and other works by Kenny McKendry, current exhibition at The Gorry Gallery Dublin, 20 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2; contact gorrygallery@icloud.com, or by phone 01-676-319. The offshore islands of Ireland have long exerted a fascination over many Irish people, with their interest being focused on the islands of our wild western coasts.…
Dancing with Time, by José María R. Olaizola SJ (€14.95 / 12.95) When this book first came into my hands, the title brought to mind at once Anthony Powell’s twelve volume novel A Dance to the Music of Time (1951-1975) concerning the continually shifting and ever interacting aspects of the life of a Welsh…
Viva la Poesia!, edited by Antonio Spadaro SJ (Edizioni Ares Rome, €18.50); an English language version for the international market is due soon. While the Pope was recovering during his recent stay in hospital yet another new book bearing his name appeared in the book shops of Rome. Entitled Long Live Poetry! it focuses on…
Anyone wishing to understand the nature of Canada as a nation could well begin that exploration by first making a visit to our own National Museum in Dublin. There in Kildare Street there is to be seen among the select moments and events in our long island history, a lavish display dealing with the Irish…
Irish Eccentrics, by Aubrey Malone (Penniless Press, £7.99 ) Daft as Brush: Eccentricities of the famous and infamous, by Aubrey Malone (Penniless Press, £7.99) In the days of gloom and doom we all need something light-hearted to relieve the depressing ambience around us. In these two books, Aubrey Malone, the film critic of The Irish Catholic,…
A Dictionary of Irish Saints, Second Edition, by Pádraig Ó Riain (Four Courts Press, €65.00 / £55.00) This is a new edition of an important, indeed for some purposes, essential book, which was warmly welcomed by The Irish Catholic when it was first published back in 2011. At that time I wrote that this was…