The Norwegians and Dublin’s Christ Church When we Irish set off on a holiday, or related pilgrimage (to repeat myself slightly from the other week), we inevitably turn south. Because of this we often miss many interesting things. It seems our chilled Hyperborean hearts need a large supply of those “beaded bubbles winking at the…
Prayer: Our Dialogue with God by Pat Collins CM, preface by Cardinal Seán Brady (New Life Publications, €18.00) Fr Pat Collins has been popular with many people for many years. This book is an epitome of the qualities that they go to his books to find. He sets out in his new book, which contains…
Irish people desire most, it seems, to fly over Britain to reach Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje. While well understanding their motives, I feel that by this choice they miss many interesting experiences, and narrowly restrict their contacts with places of faith over the past two millenniums, engaging places which in many ways have perhaps done…
Thomas Meagher: Forgotten Father of Thomas Francis Meagher by Eugene Broderick (Irish Academic Press, €29.95/£27.99) Thomas Meagher was described by Daniel O’Connell as “one of the best men that ever lived”. Yet he is only generally remembered as the father of Thomas Francis Meagher, the Young Irelander and later a Brigadier General in the US…
With things getting back to normal these days, summer provides enough fine days for us all to make some visits to often overlooked places of faith, as well as a few famous ones. Over the next few weeks some of these will be described here, with their appropriate literary associations. Croagh Patrick I am writing…
The Price of Truth: Titus Brandsma, Carmelite by Miguel Arribas, O. Carm Carmelite dia, US$23.85/£19.60/€23.50 “It was around six o’clock Monday evening, 19 January 1942, when two burly young men rang the doorbell of the Carmelite Priory in Nijmegen in Holland. The brother porter greeted the visitors and enquired, ‘how may I help you, gentlemen?’…
Curator for the NGI: Anne Hodge. This exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. 16 July – 6 November 2022; Print Gallery | Admission free – no booking required An appreciation by Peter Costello The Print Room in the National Gallery is a shaded coign which in an almost retreat-like atmosphere creates a…
Frank Litton The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos by Sohrab Ahmari ( Hodder & Stoughton, €20.95/£17.95) I used to tell my students at the institution where I then taught that the purpose of their education was to equip them to engage in conversations. My role was to introduce…
“Come back tomorrow”: African Memories by David Costello OCD (Wheat Mark Publishing, Tucson, Arizona, USA, US$11.95; also available on Amazon in paperback and ebook) Over the years I have found the recollections of missionaries, and they come in a great many shapes and sizes, are always of interest. They cast a great deal of light…
Portal: Otherworldly Wonders of Ireland’s Bogs, Wetlands and Eskers text and photographs by Tina Claffey, foreword by Matthijs Schouten (Currach Books, €29.99/£25.99) This book came in hand during weeks in which California, the south of France, Spain, London and other places are being ravaged by fires, fires which are directly attributable to climate change promoted by…
Peter Costello