Jesus and the Powers. Christian political witness in a age of totalitarian terror and dysfunctional democracies, by Tom Wright & Michael F. Bird, (SPCK, £12.99 / €15.50) Politics are changing. In this imperfect world change is inevitable. There is the normal change that comes with the adjustments we make as circumstances shift, new problems appear,…
Mike Cronin and Mark Duncan, Revolutionary Times: Ireland 1913-23: Forging of a Nation, (Merrion Press 2024) This book will be a delightful read for professional historians, amateur historians and members of the reading public who are interested in our recent history. At the outset the authors explain how it came to be published. It has…
Irish Eccentrics, by Aubrey Malone (Penniless Press, £7.99 ) Daft as Brush: Eccentricities of the famous and infamous, by Aubrey Malone (Penniless Press, £7.99) In the days of gloom and doom we all need something light-hearted to relieve the depressing ambience around us. In these two books, Aubrey Malone, the film critic of The Irish Catholic,…
A Dictionary of Irish Saints, Second Edition, by Pádraig Ó Riain (Four Courts Press, €65.00 / £55.00) This is a new edition of an important, indeed for some purposes, essential book, which was warmly welcomed by The Irish Catholic when it was first published back in 2011. At that time I wrote that this was…
A Holy Mess: Making the Most of Our Misfortunes, by Donagh O’Shea (Dominican Publications, €14.99 / £12.50) I was only a few pages into this excellent book when I came upon a passage discussing the 1951 catechism, so well known to an older generation. From time to time efforts are made by well meaning but…
Letter from America On the last Sunday in February, I attended Mass at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia. I was visiting that city to attend the 2025 national meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies. The cathedral is sumptuously decorated, and inevitably that distracted me from my prayers. Among…
The Carlow Sugar Factory: The Extraordinary Story of an Irish Industrial Icon, by Christopher Power (Created by Alhaus for Carlow County Council Centenary Committee, supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media; available gratis from Carlow Public Library; email library@carlowcoco.ie) To mark the centenary of the creation of the sugar factory at…
Travellers in the Golden Realm: How Mughal India Connected England to the World, by Lubaaba Al-Azami (John Murray, £25.00 / €30.50 ) This is a most arresting book, though not always for the reasons the author may have hoped for. It was, it seems, originally to be published under a different title First Encounters:…
This Glowing Place: New & Selected Poems by Pádraig J. Daly (Scotus Press, €15.00 / £12.50) John F. Deane This exceptional book has been long awaited, and thoroughly rewards the reader. The cover image, of the Liffey and the city in the glimmering twilight, reflects the ecology of the poet’s life and imagination, the inner…
A Tract for Our Times: A Retrospective on Joe Lee’s Ireland 1919-1985, editor Miriam Nyhan Grey, with contribution by eight others. (Glucksman Ireland House, NYU / UCD Press, US$50.00 / €40.00) Historically minded readers should not be alarmed by the title to this festschrift: it seems to be intended as merely a fancy piece of styling,…
Peter Costello