“Jesus forgave those who crucified him.” This is the mantra underlying Francois Ozon’s achingly beautiful Frantz (Alibris). Shot partly in monochrome and partly in colour, it has an air of elegant leisureliness. It tells the story of a Parisian soldier from World War I (Pierre Niney) who’s consumed with guilt after shooting a German in…
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…
“A masterly and nuanced portrayal of hopeless love”, that’s how Irish National Opera describes Jules Massenet’s Werther, which the company will take on a nationwide tour during April and May 2023. But why am I mentioning Werther so far in advance? Well, Lyric Opera presents a fully staged single performance of the piece at the…
This was the question posed by presenter Ciara Kelly on Newstalk Breakfast last Friday. Her guests were journalist David Quinn of the Iona Institute, The Sunday Times and this paper, and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland – they have clashed in robust debate on many hot button topics over the years. We learned that they…
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…
The tragic figures for Irish abortions in 2021 were released recently but didn’t garner much interest on television and radio. Don’t frighten the horses? What got a little attention was the Minister for Health’s plans for ‘safe access zones’ around places providing abortion ‘services’. It would be more useful to have safe access zones in…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan