House of Cards, a novel by Alice Curtayne (Cluny Classics, £14.50/$17.95) We often hear it said that before the rise of modern feminism, marriage was seen as the summum bonum of a woman’s ambitions. In Alice Curtayne’s compelling novel, first published in 1939, an Irishwoman makes it indignantly clear that this was not the case in…

The Ontological Argument, a critique from a Thomistic perspective by J. Anthony Gaughan (Kingdom Books, €15.00) Donal Murray In this book, Fr Tony Gaughan has undertaken a careful and thorough reflection on what Patrick Masterson, President Emeritus of UCD, describes in his foreword as “one of philosophy’s perennial and still fascinating preoccupations”. Generations of philosophers, theologians…

At this time of the year, with the leaves changing colour and beginning to fall, the lines in the banner above from Sonnet LXXIII are always in my mind, especially with their hint of a Catholic outlook in Shakespeare (a much-discussed topic today, more so than it once was), through its allusion to the systematic…

Retreat from Revolution: the Dáil Courts 1920 to 1924 by Mary Kotsonouris (Irish Academic Press, €18.95) This book shows that Ireland did really undergo a revolution between 1919 and 1923. The old legal order was progressively undermined, delegitimised, and eventually overthrown. But it was not fully and formally replaced until the enactment of the Courts of…

Fearfully & Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image by Dr Paul Brand & Philip Yancey (Hodder Books, £9.99; Kindle edition, £9.99) These days, with the daily news dominated by medical fears of all kinds and our inability to cope, many people all too conscious of the frailties of the human body and the effects that…

Conjugal Love: A Path to God edited by The Friends of Father Caffarel (€14.00; available from Married Spirituality, 66 Mount Albany, Blackrock, Co Dublin A94 AC81 at www.marriedspirituality.com ) Any discussion on this book must begin with Fr Henri Caffarel. He was born in Lyon, France, on July 30, 1903. From his earliest years he exhibited…

An appreciation by Felix M. Larkin Sr Margaret MacCurtain, who died on October 5, aged 91, was an outstanding academic historian, but was better known to the public at large as a feminist and social activist. She taught for 30 years in University College Dublin, where she was revered by generations of students. A member…

The Culture of God: The Syrian Jesus, Reading the Divine Mind, Sailing into the Divine Heart by Nadim Nassar (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99) Anthony Redmond Nadim Nassar is the first Syrian Christian to become a priest in the Church of England. This is his first book and it’s well worth reading. He says of his life…

The Old Gunner and his Medals by Brendan Lynch (Mountjoy Publishing, €12.00; ISBN 978-0-9513668-3-7) Brendan Lynch’s novel, published at the age of 80, is (all going well) an Irish classic in the making. The novel never misses a step. From beginning to end it reads flawlessly as an account of a darker side of Irish history…

Celtic Studies in Europe and other Essays by Seán Ó Lúing (Geography Publications, €38.00/£29.99) This collection of interesting essays by the late Seán Ó Lúing, the noted scholar, can be categorised under three headings: autobiography, the Irish language and Higher Studies. Those on staff of the Institute of Advanced Studies are particularly valuable. They provide biographies…