The big event in Ireland in recent days has been the release by the National Archives of the online version of the digitalised forms filled in by every household in the country on April 18, 1926 forming the first census since 1911, a census which now presents us with a picture of the then Irish…
Seán Lemass, The Lost Memoir: The autobiography of Ireland’s most admired Taoiseach, edited by Ronan McGreevy (Eriu / Bonnier, £22.00 / £20.00) The title of this book is misleading. It is neither a memoir nor an autobiography of Seán Lemass, but rather the edited transcripts of taped interviews that Lemass gave to businessman Dermot…
William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, by Alice Insley, Anne Hodge and Christina Morin (National Gallery of Ireland / Tate Gallery, €40.00 / £35.00) Exhibition organised by NGI in collaboration with the Tate Gallery, London, curated by Alice Insley and Anne Hodge. Runs to July 19, 2026; Rooms 6-10. Tickets online from €0 – €16. …
Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England, by Joanne Paul (Penguin Books, £12.99 / Michael Joseph €32.00 hb) Thomas More has been a figure of such controversy as to make even the opening sentence of this review seem problematic: should he be entitled as St Thomas or Sir Thomas? In following the author of…
Jiving With Wasps: New and Selected Poems, by Rita Ann Higgins (Bloodaxe Books, €16.95 / £9.95) Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people”, the poet Adrian Mitchell famously pronounced. Rita Ann Higgins doesn’t fall into that category. As readable and accessible a poet as the late Paul Durcan, she could fairly…
After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan’s Memory Palace, by Robert Polito (W.W. Norton, £15.00 / €29.99) Bob Dylan has reinvented himself more often than any artist inside or outside music. Morphing from the folk-rock avatar of the sixties counterculture to a born-again Christian in the late seventies, he went from singing anti-religious anthems like ‘With…
The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, by Fergal Keane (William Collins, £10.99) Fergal Keane was born in London on January 6, 1961. His father, Eamon, was a professional actor, and his mother also “trod the boards”. He is a nephew of John B. Keane, the playwright. In his…
Exhibition in The Long Room, Trinity College Library, open now, continuing to June 30, 2026. For details, visit visittrinity.ie/book-of-kells-experience. Entrance charge. Booking essential; visit tcd.ie/visitors/. Character is Better than Wealth: The Enduring Legacy of Michael Davitt’ is the broad title of an exhibition currently on display in the Long Room of Trinity College Library. Drawing on…
Rory O’Connor: To Defend the Republic, by Gerard Shannon (Merrion Press €19.99 / £17.50) Rory O’Connor was the leading Republican combatant in the Four Courts in the opening stage of the Civil War in April 1922, yet has had to wait for over 100 years to have a proper biography. He was often described…
Over the last half-century or so, art history has become one of the most popular subjects to be pursued at universities. This trend has produced large numbers of people to provide new insights both into the lives of artists and how art is conceived and made. This is all to the good. Yet sometimes there…
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone