Following their honeymoon in Italy Veronica Dunne and Peter McCarthy settled into their home on Dublin’s Bushy Park Road. However, Ronnie’s commuting between Dublin and London to fulfil her Covent Garden contract became more difficult with the arrivals of son Peter in 1954 and daughter Veronica (Judy) in 1956. Ronnie’s farewell to the Royal Opera…
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…
I can see the headline now – ‘Shock! – Catholic Teaching Found in Catholic School’. This fanciful notion struck me listening to Liveline (RTÉ Radio One) last Thursday when the controversy of the day was Flourish, the Catholic bishops’ programme for relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in Catholic primary schools. There was a lot of…
Arrah shure isn’t it a grand thing entirely that Lionsgate is after puttin’ Wild Mountain Thyme up for rental? And shouldn’t we all be dancin’ jigs of delight as we root out our shillelaghs and cloth caps for the occasion. It was originally slated for the cinemas. They’re citing Covid as the reason for the…
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…
The Mountbattens by Andrew Lownie (Blink Publishing, £20.00; 490 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates) Lord Louis Mountbatten was assassinated by members of the Provisional IRA at Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, on August 27, 1979. This is recorded in considerable detail in one of the 29 chapters of this comprehensive biography. Dickie, as he was known from…
Last time round we left the late Veronica Dunne about to audition at Covent Garden. She was accepted at once. Interestingly around the same time, Australian soprano Joan Sutherland (1926-2010), who would have a brilliant international career, had four auditions before being accepted as a ‘utility soprano’. She and Ronnie became lifelong friends. Ronnie made…
Ruadhán Jones
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone