The National Anthems of the EU Countries by Liam Murphy (Kingdom books, €18.00) Though World War II was an Armageddon of evil, it had at least one good result: what became the European Union (EU) emerged from its embers. This historic union was formed by European statesmen who were determined that their countries would never again…

Unintended Consequences: The story of Irish Immigration to the US and how America’s door was closed to the Irish by Ray O’Hanlon (Merrion Press, €19.95) Joe Carroll For over 150 years the Irish crossed the Atlantic to make a new life in the United States and nobody shouted ‘stop’. Then in 1965 the open door narrowed…

Maynooth: A College across Four Centuries edited by Salvador Ryan and John Paul Sheridan (Messenger Publications, €50.00/£40.00) This compilation of Maynoothiana has been prepared to celebrate the 225th anniversary of its foundation with a backward look or two at earlier events. It is the kind of book which the many thousands of those associated with Ireland’s…

Recently congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, US representative in Washington for Georgia’s 14 congressional district, a lady deep sunk in controversies of all kinds, raised a few more eye-brows by her reference to the “Anglo-Saxon heritage” on which “these United States” are raised. She is, of course, one of those who have in any case little…

Saint Ignatius of Loyola: A Convert’s Story by Patrick Corkery (Messenger Booklets, €4.95/£4.50) From this month through July 2022 the Society of Jesus celebrates an Ignation year. This marks the 500th anniversary of St Ignatius’ ‘conversion’. He had been struck down on the field of battle and was confined to his bed, recovering from a cannonball…

Life and Liturgy by Louis Bouyer (Sheed &Ward, revised edition, London 1978) When we gather to celebrate the Mass and receive the Eucharist, we are constituted as the people of God. We were not so beforehand, except in potential. This is what Pope Pius XI meant when he described the Mass as “the principal organ of…

The designation the other week by the United States of the massacres of Armenians in Asia Minor between 1915 and 1923 as genocide was an important step in satisfying the call for justice. But that particular passage of brutality was only one of many actions taken by the Ottoman Empire and the republican government of…

Art, Ireland, and the Irish Diaspora: Chicago, Dublin, New York 1893-1939, Culture, Connections, and Controversies by Éimear O’Connor (Irish Academic Press, €35.00/£35.00) First off it has to be said that this is a remarkable book, which will be read by anyone interested in the course of Irish culture since the Irish Revival in the 1890s down…

How the Irish Saved Civilisation and The Gifts of the Jews (The Hinges of History Series) by Thomas Cahill (Sceptre, £9.99 paperback each) Thomas Cahill’s strength is not his historical accuracy, nor the depth and perceptiveness of his theories. Perhaps this is curious, given he is an American scholar of history and philosophy. Born in New…

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough (Witness Books/Ebury Press, £20.00) When this latest title from Sir David Attenborough arrived, quite by chance, I had been reading in my relaxation time some of his very first books. They recount his adventures in making the Zoo Quest…