Sacraments in a Synodal Church, by Noel O’Sullivan (Veritas, €19.99) This is a book intended to be very much of the moment. With many years of work in both primary and secondary education, Dr Noel O’Sullivan lectures in systematic theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. So, he knows how things are meant to work and also…
This week we conclude our ‘Summer Series’ with a final group, this time of five apostles, with very varied if obscure lives. James the Less The profusion of persons named James surrounding Jesus in the years of his public life led in time to a sense of confusion, which the writings of the Fathers…
This is a question many people must ask themselves from time to time. To answer it we have to have clearly in mind who the full complement of Apostles called by Jesus were. Matthew (10:1-7) provides a list of the original apostles. “And the names of the 12 apostles are these: The first, Simon who…
A little while ago, prowling in one of the few remaining second-hand book shops in Dublin, I picked up by chance a little pamphlet which I had long known about, but had never seen. Called simply Irish Folklore and Tradition in a plain grey wrapper, it was issued in March 1938 by the Department of Education, in…
Every summer sees the publication of numbers of books about the Camino, taken of course, to mean the ‘The Way of St James’. These days this has to some extent ceased to be religious, as for many it does not now end at the Shrine of St James in the Cathedral at Compostela, but in…
Here are two books, for two different age groups, which will provide amusing and interesting reading for children this summer when they need to escape from the all too brilliant sun and sit in the shade and read. The Most Irish Person written by Shelly Corcoran, illustrated by Angelika Sowul (Currach Books, €12.99) The first…
RHA exhibition at the National Gallery, Room 21 at the National Gallery until October 22. Curated by Kate McBride and others from both the RHA and the NGI. The limited exhibition at the National Gallery is one of some special interest concerning the advancement of women artists in modern Ireland. The Royal Irish Academy during…
The Philosophers’ Daughters, edited by Peter Vardy (Darton, Longman and Todd, £12.99/ €15.50) Peter Vardy was vice-principal of Heythrop College, University of London, and now runs the largest conferences for students of Philosophy and Religious Studies in Britain. In this thought-provoking book he has gathered a number of questions posed by his two young daughters, Petra…
‘Irish Explorers of the Jordan Rift Valley and the Euphrates Valley in the 1830s: Scientific Adventure and Imperialism’, in George Moore: Dublin, Paris, Hollywood, by Haim Goren, edited by Conor Montague and Adrian Frazier (Irish Academic Press, €26.99 pb/ €44.99 hb) I was recently given this book as a present from someone who knew…
More Book Reviews 1896-2023 by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €24.00/ £21.00) J. Anthony Gaughan is one of our regular reviewers and has been for many years. This is the second and concluding collection of his book reviews of all over the years since 1975. Many of these reviews appeared in these pages, but by no…