A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s political thought by Michael Lamb (Princeton University Press, £35.00 / US$29.99) Frank Litton We are told that the world is divided into those who see the glass half-full and those who report it half-empty. This seems to be the case with politics. For many, perhaps the majority, all goes well. The…
Darkness Between Stars by John F. Deane and James Harpur (Irish Pages Press, Belfast, €24.99/£22.00) Thomas Macarthy This book is an entirely unexpected project. Two poets of seniority and assured reputation have come together to publish the poetic faith essence of their many-volumed careers. Deane is a Catholic poet who once studied for the priesthood and…
The Politics of God: The Rise and Rise of Political Religion by T. P. O’Mahony, foreword by Dr Mary McAleese (Veritas, €19.00) T.P. O’Mahony was for many years the excellent Religious Affairs Correspondent for The Irish Press. After its demise, he has continued to comment on religious topics worldwide for many other publications as well as…
Lights for the Path by John Sullivan (Veritas, €24.99/£22.20) John Sullivan was formerly Professor of Christian Education at Liverpool Hope University, of which he is now an emeritus professor. Hope University is a unique institution, formed out of three Victorian teachers’ training colleges in an ecumenical union which now prospers as a developing third level…
The Spiritual Journey of St Patrick by Aidan J. Larkin SSC, with a foreword by Archbishop Eamon Martin (Messenger Publication, €14.95/£12.95) Tomorrow all the world that is Irish will mark St Patrick’s Day, mostly in ebullient hoolies it has to be said, rather than calm and settled consideration. Well, that is the way of the…
The Book of the Skelligs, edited by John Crowley and John Sheehan, photography by Valerie O’Sullivan (Cork University Press, €49/£43.90) The Great Lighthouses of Ireland, by David Hare (Gill Books, €27.99/£24.99) The filming in the recent past of two episodes of the continuing Star Wars franchise has transformed the world-wide perception of the…
An excerpt from Patrick Weston Joyce, English as We Speak it in Ireland (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1910), pages 324-325. In his essay on the “Skellig Lists” in Irish folk life contributor Shane Lehane overlooks this interesting and important notice of the custom by the Victorian scholar of all things Irish, Patrick Weston…
“Who founded Skellig monastery?” remains a moot question, as the lawyers say. The relevant contributors to this book have to admit that though the name of St Fíonán is associated with the early centuries of Skellig’s human history, who truly founded the monastery is an obscure issue. But it may be that light on this…
A History of Alsace 1871 – 1939 by Liam Murphy (Kingdom Books 2023). Alsace and Lorraine have been described by historians as “the shuttlecock of Europe”. Both regions passed between Germany and France on five occasions. Alsace is located in eastern France on the west bank of the upper Rhine and borders Switzerland and Germany.…
Nine Lives: The Reflections of a Deliberate Diplomat by Donal Denham (The Liffey Press, €19.95/£17.95) It is rare if not unknown for a former Irish ambassador to publish a book about his life and times. Conor Cruise O’Brien gave us To Katanga and Back, but he had retired at Counsellor level and concentrated on his term…
Peter Costello