Category: Books

Hoping for a better politics in the City of Man

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…

Two modern poets explore mysteries of faith

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…

Politics and religion as they now affect us

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…

Guiding lights to the path of faith and fortitude

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 many aspects of the ancient Skelligs explored

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…

Sidelights on the Skelligs I

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…

Sidelights on the Skelligs II

“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…