I Judge No One: A Political Life of Jesus by David Lloyd Dusenbury (Hurst Publishers, £25.00/€30.50) Frank Litton The horrible costs of the Ukrainian war in human lives and material destruction are agreed. One expert analysis reports that an estimated 180,000 Russian soldiers, 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers, plus 30,000 civilians have been killed, putting it in…
Joyce, Aristotle and Aquinas, by Fran O’Rourke (A volume in the Florida James Joyce Series, edited by Sebastian DG. Knowles; University of Florida Press, US$90hb/US$35pb/£38.95pb /€44.50pb) Today marks the anniversary of James Joyce’s birth in 1882, the first indeed in what can be seen as the second century of Ulysses. That book is now so…
The Irish Department of Finance 1959-99, by Ciarán Casey (Institute of Public Administration, €35.00/£30.99). The Irish Department of Finance traces its beginning to the establishment of the Irish Free State in December 1922. It retained the work-practices and most of the personnel of its previous existence as an ancillary branch of the British Treasury. In…
His Homeward Journey: The Life and Works of Pope Benedict XVI, by Bishop Fintan Monahan (Veritas, €9.99 / £8.99) This short life of the Pope Emeritus was well advanced at the time of his recent death. It is exactly the sort of book which many people would have liked to have at hand then, for…
The Parish as Oasis: An Introduction to Practical Environmental Care, by Kevin Hargaden and Ciara Murphy (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£12.95) The very title of this book is enough to startle and attract my imagination as I had been reading a travel account of a journey through Ethiopia, that always troubled land, soon after the overthrow of…
These days we hear a great deal about Catholic dioceses being united, and also of parishes being run together, all because of the critical lack of priests. The penchant of the administrative mind when faced by such a crisis to make the administrative area ever larger is always apparent. But is this right with parishes? How…
Local Matters: Parish, Local Government and Community in Ireland, by Dr Finola Kennedy (Institute of Public Administration, €25.00) Frank Litton The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre traced his early commitment to Marxism to his experience growing up in London’s East End where his parents worked as doctors. It was the communists’ contributions to the neighbourhood that drew…
There is still time to catch the annual showing of the Henry Vaughan Bequest of Turner watercolours at the National Gallery of Ireland before it closes at the end of the month. It is in the Print Gallery, reached from Clare Street, and is free with no booking needed. The Henry Vaughan Bequest is a…
Becoming Human, Becoming Divine: The Christian Life According to Blessed Columba Marmion, by Columba McCann OSB (Veritas, €9.99/£8.50 – prices subject to change) This year marks the centenary of the death of Blessed Columba Marmion in 1923. This is an anniversary which will be of great interest to many across Ireland, given his Dublin birth…
Lead Kindly Light: Essays for Ian Kerr, Ed. Paul Shrimpton, (Gracewing £20.00/€22.75) This book is a festschrift to mark, the editor says, the fourscore years of the life of Ian Kerr, the Newman scholar. He succeeded to the eminence of the late Fr Charles Dessain who sustained over so many years the great project to…
Peter Costello