Different and the same: a folk history of the Protestants of independent Ireland Deirdre Nuttall (Eastwood Books/Wordwell, €25) Ian d’Alton This illuminating book is about “the stories of the ‘old’ Protestant communities of independent Ireland and how these stories have justified feelings of belonging, entitlement, estrangement, marginalisation, and more in the context of a State that…
Who would have thought that an absorbing drama could be made of someone playing chess! Up to now the best chess film I’d seen was Queen of Katwe but drama series The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) is making quite a stir and everyone I know that has seen it is impressed. Anya-Taylor Joy plays the enigmatic…
As someone who grew up within 100 yards of two cinemas, I was going to films almost as soon as I could walk. If someone told me I wouldn’t be in one more than a dozen times this year I’d probably have told them to send for the men in the white coats. But that’s…
Biomedical Controversies in Catholic Ireland by Don O’Leary (Eryn Publishers, €18.99/£ 17.99) This book is a historical analysis by historian Don O’Leary of the biomedical controversies played out in Ireland in the time-frame from the 1968 Encyclical Humanae Vitae to repeal of the Eighth Amendment in 2018. The issues involved were abortion, stem cell research, assisted…
The Journey of the Mayflower: God’s Outlaws, or the Invention of Freedom by Stephen Tomkins (Hodder & Stoughton, £21.99) Today is Thanksgiving Day across the United States, a feast day that rivals Christmas in the minds and memories of its citizens. We have to particularise the United State of America, as Thanksgiving, which derives from the…
O Shining Light: Old English Meditations for Advent and Christmas, introduction and commentary by Jacob and Mamie Riyeff (Gracewing, £9.99) In the Venerable Bede there is a passage where a pagan Saxon king likens the life of an individual to the flight of a small birds through the warm and lighted hall of a Anglo-Saxon home,…
Exploring Christus Vivit: Making Room for the Young Church edited by Gerard Gallagher (Veritas, €9.99/£9.12) The promise of the future is in this little book, a collection of thoughts and commentaries edited by Gerard Gallagher, on last year’s apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Christus Vivit. The hope of creative renewal and continuation is seen by Pope…
My story by Jesus of Nazareth as narrated by Brendan Butler (From the author, €10.00, including postage, contact www.mystorybyjesusofnazareth.org) Brendan Butler is a well-known anti-war activist and advocate of much needed reform and of openness in the Church. He always has vital things to say, though they are not always well received. But that is the way…
Whatever about the darker elements surrounding us, shafts of light are shining on a number of our young musicians through bursaries funded by the State and private enterprise. Those from the Government come via its Department of Media, Tourism, Art, Culture and the Gaeltacht having been solicited by the triennial Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition…
I’m wary of gurus, even if they are promoting stuff I agree with. They may not seek that status but I’d say it is often thrust upon them by over enthusiastic and under critical followers. The crown is not always resisted. After watching The Rise of Jordan Peterson (Sky Arts, Tuesday) I’m still not sure…
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
William Reville
Peter Costello