Memoir: Remembering Krzysztof Joseph Romanowski by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €15.00; available from Veritas branches) Today Polish is now the second most spoken language in Ireland (as Joe Carroll observes elsewhere on this page). Fr Gaughan’s new little book goes some way to explaining why this is. It consists of a brief, but moving memoir,…
Generous Love in Multi-Faith Ireland: Towards Mature Citizenship and a Positive Pedagogy for the Church of Ireland in Local Christian–Muslim Mission and Engagement by Suzanne Cousins (Church of Ireland Publishing, €6.00 / £5.00; available from the Theological Institute, Braemor Park, Dublin 14. ) The Rev. Suzanne Cousins was ordained to the Church of Ireland ministry in…
Our Father: Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer by Pope Francis (Rider, £9.99) This little book, which is issued to mark the fifth anniversary of the Pope’s election, is like so many of the publications which bear his name, drawn from an interview, or rather conversation, with a friendly interlocutor. This was Fr Marco Pozza, a priest…
World of Books by the Books Editor I was struck the other day, while reading Anthony Dent’s book Lost Beasts of Britain, by a remark in his preface. He is explaining that he deals largely with the extent of Britain known to the “good emperor” Antoninus Pius, builder of the Antonine Wall in 142 AD,…
Kerry: The Beautiful Kingdom written and photographed by John Wesson (O’Brien Press, €24.99) John Wesson is an English professional photographer who divides his time between Derbyshire and Valentia Island in Kerry. Though this is his first book I suspect we can expect many more. He has a fine eye for both the beauties of the landscape,…
Faith Finding a Voice by Cardinal Vincent Nichols (Bloomsbury, £12.99) The new book by the Cardinal Archbishop of London will undoubtedly find a wide audience. How encouraging it is, too, that a senior prelate sees it as part of his mission to devote time to composing such a book. It does not happen everywhere. His hope…
Maria Edgeworth’s Letters from Ireland selected and edited by Valerie Pakenham (Lilliput Press, €40.00hb, €25.00pb) The landed gentry and the great houses of Ireland have not had a great reputation in general. But many of those for whom the traditional nationalist narrative has long sufficed, might well have their minds, if not changed, at least refined…
World of Books We may be about to see major changes in the way the major books shops in Ireland – mostly now the property of British companies – are run. Quite how all of this will work out for readers anxious to stay in touch, not just with Britain, as these companies imagine, but…
The National Gallery now has on display the newly restored Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (c. 1620) by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as Guercino. This is a baroque masterpiece with an interesting history, for it was the very first painting purchased by Sir Denis Mahon, the connoisseur and scholar in 1934 for £120.…
The World of Books by the books editor A bout in bed with one of those picked-up bugs that linger on, has allowed me to read some books that I ought to have read, or reread, ages ago. I can leave the rereads for now, for one the reads was extraordinarily interesting and revealing. This…