A Little Book of Ledwidge: A Selection of Poems and Letters of Francis Ledwidge compiled by John Quinn, with an assessment by Seamus Heaney (Veritas, €9.99) India to Ithaca by Paula Lahiff (€10.00; €12.50 including postage, contact paulalahiff@gmail.com) Santiago Sketches by David McLoghlin (Salmon Poetry, €12.00) In Ireland the role of the poet has been respected since prehistoric…
The World of Books – By the books editor For a man holding what many still see as the most powerful position in the world, President Trump has an uncanny instinct to express in the brutal language of the bar and locker-room the opinions of some of the most uninformed people in the United…
Picturing the Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation in the Arts over Two Millennia by Natasha O’Hear & Anthony O’Hear (Oxford University Press, £12.99) The other week a false alarm over an incoming ballistic missile (presumably from North Korea and armed with a nuclear warhead) scared the inhabitants of Hawaii witless. Fleeing the beach in minutes, they…
The World of Books by the Books Editor At this time of the year many people are thinking about and booking their summer holidays. Not many I suspect, planning that annual stay in the sun- drenched Umbrian region of central Italy, will be considering its connection with Lough Derg and with the medieval shrine…
‘Good morning, Mr Turner: Niall Naessens and J. M. W. Turner’ Exhibition in Print Gallery, National Gallery of Ireland, free admission to January 31, 2018 Every January the NGI mounts an exhibition of its collection of Turner water colours. For conservation reasons these can only be exhibited in the season of low winter light. The…
Archives | State Papers Echoes of the past from the archives Peter Costello reports from the National Archives of Ireland on the release under the 30-year rule of confidential state files from 1987 On Tuesday (January 2) the National Archive made available to the public under the 30-year-rule State files from various government…
Archives | State Papers Echoes of the past from the archives Light is cast on the lives of others aside from politicians. For instance the career of Bishop Emeritus John Magee, which led from early distinction to eventual controversy and disaster on his return to Ireland. After many years in the higher reaches of…
Archives | State Papers Secrets of the powers that be One of the delights of these file releases are the curious side-lights that are cast by the documents on our leaders. In the files released from the President’s office are some dealing with Douglas Hyde’s term in office as First President of Ireland under…
Archives | State Papers Secrets of the powers that be One of the minor mysteries connected with the centuries-long Irish connection with Rome and the Vatican is the location of the grave of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who died there in exile in 1616. This must once have been well known, but by…
Archives | State Papers Echoes of the past from the archives The files dealing with aliens contain in brief the life stories of thousands of people, some of Irish descent, who landed in Ireland either in transit, or wishing to stay, or even to become citizens. They reflect all the turmoil of the first…