Pathway to the Cosmos: The alignment of megalithic tombs in Ireland, Britain and Atlantic Europe, by Peigín Doyle (Wordwell in Association with the National Monuments Service, €10.00 / £8.99) The recent total eclipse of the sun, visible across a large swathe of Europe caused great excitement. It was certainly a rare lifetime event, but…
Remember the Children, a novel by Lucy Beckett (Gracewing, £20.00 / €23.50) This novel is the final part of a trilogy, the two earlier parts of which, entitled In the Grieving of Her Days and A Late Finding, were much admired on their publication also by Gracewing. This latest book deals with the experiences…
Forbidden Ireland: Church and State – 1951 to The Present Day, by T. P. O’Mahony, introduction by Rosita Sweetman (Mercier Press. €16.99 / £14.50) T. P. O’Mahony was for many years the religious affairs correspondent first for the Irish Press in Dublin and then later for the Cork Examiner. He has written several books…
I have a distinct disadvantage in writing about the new IMAX version of The Odyssey, for I actually studied the Greek original at school. We had on our course over some six years the works of Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, and others. Not mind you the whole of The Odyssey, but only Book VI, which in the…
The Men and Women of the Anglo-Irish Treaty Delegations 1921, edited by Fiona Murray and Eda Sagarra (Laurelmount Press, €16.99 / £14.99) The Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921 is the name given to the “Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland 6 December 1921”. This book provides a detailed account of the two…
The Complete Beekeeper, by Gabriel Wilson OSB (Gracewing £20.00 / €23.50) There is a mysterious quietness in the air when one approaches a beehive – an almost sacred stillness, despite the low drone of countless wings in sunlit activity. It’s the grace of a paradox. The beekeeper moves slowly, deliberately, as if stepping into an…
From Memory to Understanding: A Study of the Christian Brothers in Ireland 1922-1970, by Tom O’Donoghue (Gracewing, UK, 2026) This is an important book on the long history of the Christian Brothers. It attempts to tell the whole story about their creation, spread and effects here in Ireland and indeed abroad, from their foundation…
Solidarity: The Work of Recognition, by Rowan Williams (Bloomsbury Continuum, £20.00 / €24.00) This is an important book. It throws light on a central political problem of our time: how to find a balance between belonging and autonomy. We need belonging because we need a narrative that to give shape to our lives, we…
National Heritage Week is coming up at the end of the month, running from Friday, August 15 to Sunday, August 23. Actually, the events run for nine days, so it is a sort of Irish week with ‘a tilly for the cat’. National Heritage Week is now in its 26th year. According to the organisers,…
Passage to America: the story of Ulster’s emigrants Taking ship: Essays in transatlantic migration from Ulster, edited by Sophie Cooper, Patrick Fitzgerald and William Roulston (Ulster Historical Foundation, £11.99 / €13.99) Felix M. Larkin *** An Post has recently marked the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence with a stamp featuring a portrait…
Peter Costello