Dark Enchantment by Dorothy Macardle (Tramp Press, Recovered Voices Series, No.6) Teresa 
Whitington   Dorothy Macardle has been primarily associated with her 1937 partisan history The Irish Republic, written at Eamon de Valera’s request to give an account of the independence struggle from the anti-treaty side. In so far as the novelist Dorothy Macardle is known,…

A Quiet Tide by Marianne Lee (New Island Books, €14.95) Felix
 M.
 Larkin





   Ellen Hutchins (1785-1815) is described in the Dictionary of Irish Biography as “one of the earliest Irish women scientists…an avid collector of plants, especially the mosses, bryophytes, fungi and lichens around the family home on Bantry Bay”. Though she never published anything…

A History of Silence: From the Renaissance to the Present Day by Alain Corbin (Polity Press, £14.99) When Silence Speaks: The Life and Spirituality of Elisabeth Leseur by Jennifer Moorcroft (Gracewing, €20.00) Silence, they say, is golden. But all too often we read about strenuous objections being made to the ringing of church bells in rural parts,…

The Lost Gaeltacht: the Land Commission Migration – Clonbur, County Galway to Allenstown, County Meath by Martin O’Halloran (Homefarm Publishing, €29.00. Available online from Mayo Books) Ian
 d’Alton On March 29, 1940, two buses left Clonbur village, sandwiched between Loughs Mask and Corrib, Co. Galway. They carried 24 apprehensive families to a hopeful new life in…

Pastoral Ministry in Changing Times: The Past, Present & Future of the Catholic Church in Ireland by Aidan Ryan (Messenger Publications, €12.95) Aidan Ryan has been occupied for many years with pastoral retreats for the clergy. This has brought him very close to the problems, fears and hopes of those who serve in parishes across the…

Mainly About Books by the Books Editor   The lockdown came when many were planning summer excursions. Plans for travel have been postponed. So, being well supplied with books of all kinds, I have been rereading with pleasure some older travel books. One is European Detours (1981), subtitled ‘A travel guide to unusual sights’ –…

The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time by Lawrence G. Lovasik (Sophia Institute Press, Kindle edition $US9.99) Here is another book for these lockdown days. The author sets out to provide a practical handbook for those who wish to make kindness a…

Creation Walk: The Amazing Story of a Small Blue Planet by Brian Grogan SJ (Messenger Publications, €9.99) Brian Grogan is a well-known writer and teacher, author of many books. But this new book may well be one of the most effective that he has written some may feel. I have often wondered, reading or listening to…

The cover of Prof. Fr Thomas O’Loughlin’s new book Eating Together, Becoming One (reviewed in our issue of April 2) carries an image that very powerfully evoked themes that the author has explored as an historian and theologian. As a cover image it lost some of its impact as a work of art. In this…

Eating Together, Becoming One: Taking up Pope Francis’s Call to Theologians by Thomas O’Loughlin (Liturgical Press Academic, $US29.95/£19.99; available in several formats, search www.litpress.org.uk; orders@norwichbooksandmusic.co.uk) This is the latest book by well known historian Thomas O’Loughlin, the prominent Irish theologian and liturgist, who was elected president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain in 2016.…