Reading Seosamh Ó Dufaigh’s magnificent book, and his discussions of the difficulty of researching the first centuries of Christianity in Ireland I wondered if a solution to the problems they present might not be partially found already. We have of course Pádraig Ó Riain’s Dictionary of Irish Saints (Four Courts Press, 2011, still available at €65.00/£55.00), a fine…
Christ and His Cousin: Renaissance Rediscoveries, curated by Dr Aoife Brady (Continues to 8 May 2022; Hugh Lane Room; free admission – no booking required) Currently the National Gallery is running a small but very interesting show in one of their smaller exhibition spaces focused on images of the child Jesus and his cousin St John…
Books Reviews 1975-2021: Reviews of works by distinguished biographers, historians, philosophers and writers by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €24.00/£20.00) Fr Tony Gaughan, himself the author of many books ranging over philosophy, local and national history, and Irish social life since the middle ages, is one of this paper’s most popular reviewers. This compilation of…
Sacred Space for Lent 2022 (Messenger Publications, €4.95/£4.50) The Sacred Space website, a mission of the Irish Jesuits, continues to be one of the most popular prayer sites, accessed worldwide, continuing some would say the ancient ambition of the earliest Christians in this country to spread the word directly to people. Sacred Space for Lent…
Just before Christmas the international press carried worrying stories about the renovation and future use of Notre Dame de Paris, one of the most important and pre-eminent churches, not just in Europe, but in the world. Middle Ages It has had, since the Middle Ages, a special place also too in the life and imagination,…
The popular author and publisher Colm Keane has died after a cancer diagnosis. Over recent decades he created some 29 books, many of which were highly successful. He touched an enormous number of people through the books he and his wife Una O’Hagan, published through the small publishing firm they founded and ran themselves. In…
by the books editor The World of Books The public fracas down in Ennistymon, Co. Clare over the erection of a statue representing the Púca of folklore has attracted a deal of amused comment around the country. Certainly the affair focused the attention of the nation on aspects of our own modern Irish culture which…
An exhibition curated by Niamh MacNally at the National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, to January 31, 2022 Print Gallery | Admission free (book your free entry ticket in advance) The National Gallery’s remarkable holding of watercolours by the English genius Joseph Mallord William Turner is shown only in January. In 1900, at the very end…
In his Master’s Footsteps: The Way of the Cross in the Company of St Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop and Martyr (St Paul’s Publishing, €5.50 / £4.60) This aid to making the Stations of the Cross has been written by Canon Benedict Fee, the parish priest of Clonoe, in Co. Tyrone. It is built around the example…
Stolen Moments by John Quinn (Veritas, €16.99 / £14.50) Over recent years John Quinn’s books have proved popular and for good reason. This new book is a sort of sequel to an earlier book Moments (which appeared back in 2011). In this book I can see why. These days I find I do not sleep quite as…