Birth and the Irish: a miscellany edited by Salvador Ryan (Worldwell,€25.00/£22.00) Salvador Ryan is Professor of Ecclesiastical History at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. This new book completes a trilogy begun with Death and the Irish, (published in 2016 by Wordwell Books). The sequel, Marriage and the Irish, appeared in summer 2019. And now we are given…
Climb with Charlie, by Charlie Bird (Merrion Press, €17.99/£16.99) In 2021, veteran RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird made it known that he has motor neurone disease. He was charged up to make a positive response. He decided to organise a charity climb of Ireland’s famous Holy Mountain, Croagh Patrick. In its fulfilment, his simple plan grew…
34th International Hopkins Festival July 22-28 2022 Newbridge College Theatre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare The Gerard Manley Hopkins International Summer School, which has been called “a bright gem in the literary world”, by Patrick Samway SJ, the American literary scholar and teacher, begins tomorrow (Friday July 22), and closes next week on 28. The details of all…
Discover God Daily: Seven Life-Changing moments from the Journey of Saint Ignatius, by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds (Messenger Publications, €9.95/£8.95) Pedro Arrupe: a heart larger than the World, by Brian Grogan SJ (Messenger Publications, €16.95/£18.95) Anyone who wishes to understand the feelings and thoughts that inform and motivate Pope Francis’s approach to the…
An Irish Pilgrimage Guide to the Holy Land by Michael Kelly (Columba Books, €16.99/£14.99) Michael has led some dozen pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and he is well aware of what information pilgrims would like to have, and what information they really need. The usual range of guide books are these days very internationalised and…
Dear England: Finding Hope, Taking Heart and Changing the World by Stephen Cottrell (Hodder Faith, €11.50/£9.99) This little book, by the Anglican Archbishop of York, might provide an object lesson to some Irish Catholic bishops. It is basically a letter answering a query to him by a complete stranger: ‘What made you become a priest?’ He…
The Ulysses Project: Architecture and the city through James Joyce’s Dublin: an exhibition created by Freddie Phillipson, in collaboration with Drawing Matter Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Mondays to Fridays, 9am -5pm, runs to August 19. The centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses passed this year with a few serious…
The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies by Irving Finkel (Hodder & Stoughton, £25.00/€29.99) This is a fascinating yet grim book which describes in detail the beliefs of the cultures of Mesopotamia concerning the departed dead. The author, who is the senior assistant keeper at the British Museum, is in charge of the written relics…
The World of Books Rathcormick: A Childhood Recalled, by Homan Potterton, with an Introduction by William Trevor (Merrion Press, €12.95/£12.99) This is a very welcome republication of a book first issued over two decades ago by another publisher. It was then hailed by William Trevor as “a wholly delightful memoir of lace-curtain Protestants in 1950s rural…
Image & Vision: Reflecting with the Books of Kells by Rosemary Power (Veritas, €24.99/£22.00) Rosemary Power has written two earlier books on the world of Celtic Christianity, one of which deals with Colmcille and Iona. She also lectures widely on themes in this area of scholarship to non-academic audiences, thus passing on the latest aspects…