Recorded by Marco Polo, circa 1272

These days the Christmas story has become – with the star over the stable, the infant in the manger, the shepherds, the three kings and the wicked King Herod – so familiar that we rarely if ever look back to see what the Gospels actually say about the Nativity. It often surprises readers to find…

Some of our regular reviewers share with readers their choices among the books published this year, which most impressed them during their reading and reviewing through the course of 2015. The prices quoted are the publishers’ recommended prices, in either euros or pounds, and they may vary from outlet to outlet.    FELIX M. LARKIN…

The Easter Rising was at heart an act of the imagination, mixing themes from Irish history, religion and social vision. The poet Padraic Colum – a close friend of many of those involved in the Rising but exiled from them in America – emphasised to the New York Times in a long interview that the…

From the piles of new books for Christmas, this week we present a selection which may interest readers of The Irish Catholic, and make for a pleasant surprise for others under the Christmas tree…

Wilhelmina Geddes: Life and Work by Nicola Gordon Bowe (Four Courts Press, €50)

The death of Michael Paul Gallagher on November 5 would have been unexpected to the very many people who benefited by reading his wise and insightful books. One such said to me the other day that they had attempted to wrestle with books on theology, and had almost given up. But from Michael Paul Gallagher’s…

Sons and Fathers edited by Kathy Gilfillan, introduction by Colm Tóibin, foreword by Bono (An Irish Hospice Foundation Book / Penguin Ireland, €20)

Living with Grief: Walking the Spiral by Bairbre Cahill (Redemptorist Publications, £7.95)