Last week was Catholic Schools Week, so hopefully it will have a positive impact on students in those schools. The event was bookmarked in the media by two Masses. On the Monday it was the regular 10.30am Mass on the RTÉ News channel, with Fr Michael Toomey from the Holy Family Church Ardfinnan, in Co.…
Anthony Redmond My Theology: Personal Idealism by Keith Ward (Darton, Longmann & Todd, (£8.99 / €12.59) Keith Ward was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University. He is an ordained priest in the Church of England. He has written over 20 books on various aspects of philosophy and theology and is regarded as an important…
Last weekend the spirits of the nation lifted, but they were heavy at the start of last week. I tend to complain a fair bit about the Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, weekdays), so it behoves me to give credit when it’s due. On Tuesday of last week when discussing the vigils related to the sad…
As I write I hope Covid-19 restrictions will soon be lifted. Two groups – Irish National Opera (INO) and the National String Quartet Foundation – have had their current tours disrupted with changes to starting times and even some cancellations. Supported by Culture Ireland, INO’s nationwide tour of Vivaldi’s Bajazet is drawing to a close…
Haughey by Gary Murphy (Gill Books, €27.99/£25.99) The distinguished philosopher, Sir Anthony Kenny, wrote apropos of an encounter with Charles J. Haughey that “on no other occasion in my life has anyone, with a straight face, told me so many lies that he knew were lies, and that he knew I knew were lies”. Many…
On Dangerous Ground: A Memoir of the Irish Revolution by Máire Comerford Hilary Dully (The Lilliput Press, Dublin, €20.00) This is a fascinating diary written by a republican ‘true believer’. From 1916 until her death in 1982, Máire Comerford was totally committed to the struggle for independence as understood by many of those elected to…
by the books editor The World of Books The public fracas down in Ennistymon, Co. Clare over the erection of a statue representing the Púca of folklore has attracted a deal of amused comment around the country. Certainly the affair focused the attention of the nation on aspects of our own modern Irish culture which…
Desmond Egan Apathy Is out: Selected Poems of Seán Ó Ríordáin with translations by Greg Delanty (Bloodaxe/ClóIar-Chonnacht, £12.99/€15.00) Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916-1977) was arguably the finest Irish-language poet of modern times. Soon after starting to work as a clerk in Cork city, he was diagnosed with TB (which had killed his father). It dogged him…
An exhibition curated by Niamh MacNally at the National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, to January 31, 2022 Print Gallery | Admission free (book your free entry ticket in advance) The National Gallery’s remarkable holding of watercolours by the English genius Joseph Mallord William Turner is shown only in January. In 1900, at the very end…
The neo-noir thriller Nightmare Alley is a remake of a 1947 film starring Tyrone Power in one of his favourite roles. This version is directed by Guillermo del Toro – of The Shape of Water fame. Leonardo DiCaprio was initially cast in the power role but dropped out amidst financial squabbles. He’s replaced by another…
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone