The Political world of Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde of Ballynastragh, Co. Wexford, 1862-1935, by Brian Fennell (Four Courts Press, €12.95) The Catholic Church in Ireland that attained a position of dominance in many spheres of Irish life in the nineteenth and twentieth century has always been slow to acknowledge the debt owed for its…
The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection, by Robert Farrar Capon (Modern Library, US$20.00 / €17.50) This has been a bad summer not just in Europe but also in North America. The lack of rain and the bleaching out of the vegetation has threatened food shortages for the coming winter. Such a summer underlines…
An Artist in Glass: Frances Biggs, a pamphlet by John Keating (gratis at Terenure College Chapel) Recently a funeral Mass took us to the chapel of Terenure College. The last time I was in the college was to attend a book launch of a history of the college itself by Prof. Fergus D’Arcy; that very…
Downfall of a King: Juan Carlos of Spain, by Paul Preston (William Collins, £30.00 / €35.50) Paul Preston is one of the foremost historians of modern Spain. He has written sixteen books about the history of Spain since the late 19th century, most of them describing different aspects of the Civil War. Preston, an…
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…
Peter Costello