When I criticise media bias I often find myself tempted to distance myself from some person or cause lest people miss my point and assume I’m supporting them, whereas I’m just looking for more objectivity. Last Friday I listened to yet another soft and palsy interview with Alastair Campbell, former press secretary to Tony Blair,…
Living Words: A booklet for renewal of the Holy Spirit by Michael Hurley (Messenger Publications, €4.95) This booklet is the accompaniment as a sort of ‘workbook’ to Michael Hurley’s Inspiring Faith Communities. A programme of Evangelisation (Messenger Publications, €12.95/£11.95) This, in essence, is a prayer book for daily use. It consists of a collection of scripture passages…
A good friend of mine, opera buff extraordinaire Paddy Brennan, recently sent me an email with an attachment – www.operainireland.wordpress.com/. It came with a ‘work in progress’ warning but, even so, the file contains a vast amount of information relating to opera in Dublin from 1928 to virtually the present day. The content is absolutely…
At the turn of the year The Irish Catholic, along with other long-established national newspapers, has customarily devoted space to items from the year end release of state documents from 30 years ago by our National Archives in Bishop Street, Dublin. This usually ran to a mini-supplement of six pages. But this year, because of the…
The Irish Polish Society Yearbook ed. Jaroslaw Plachecki , vol. VII 2020 (see contact details below for ordering a copy) Over the last couple of decades the Polish community has established a strong presence in Ireland – both commercially and socially. The many areas of life and history the two nations have in common are…
Paddy Cole: King of the Swingers by Paddy Cole with Tom Gilmore. Foreword by John McColgan (O’Brien Press, €19.99/ebook €9.99) It is amazing how ‘the little bit of religion’ creeps into strange places sometimes. These are the music-making memories of a leading figure in the music scene since the 1950s. Paddy Cole is a great tale…
You’ve probably all seen The Crown by now. I enjoyed it but like many of the mini-series on Netflix it was anything but ‘mini’. I also thought John Lithgow was far too tall for Winston Churchill though his performance is solid. We’ve been so spoiled by some of the recently brilliant depictions of Churchill on…
I wasn’t really surprised by how smoothly the inauguration of President Joe Biden went on Wednesday of last week – facilitated by massive security of course! My positive and optimistic side was drawn towards inspiration as I watched the RTÉ News Special (RTÉ One). Amanda Gorman, the young poet laureate, delivered an inspiring poem The…
What is your Business? Memories of life, especially from my 23 years missionary work in Sierra Leone, West Africa by Fr Willie Kingston, CSSp (CRM Publications/Spiritan Heritage and Archives, Kimmage Manor, Dublin, €20.00/€30.00 postage paid) Daniel Murphy in his magisterial A History of Irish Emigrant & Missionary Education, published in 2001, describes the significant contribution made…
Peace Smiles: Rediscovering Thomas Merton by Bishop Fintan Monahan (Veritas Publications, €9.99/£9.12) Anthony Redmond It is very clear that Bishop Fintan Monaghan is an ardent admirer and devotee of Thomas Merton and his writings. Dr Monahan, of course, is Bishop of Killaloe, based in Ennis, Co. Clare, and could be said to speak from the heart…
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone