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…
Psychiatrist in the Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare by Brendan Kelly and Muiris Houston (Merrion Press, €22.95 / £19.99) Charles Lysaght Anthony Clare (1942-2007) attained, by the age of 40, an eminence in the medical profession in Britain not surpassed by any graduate of an Irish medical school since King George VI’s radiologist Peter…
The darkness echoing: exploring Ireland’s places of famine, death and rebellion by Gillian O’Brien (Doubleday, £14.99/€17.99) Felix M. Larkin G.K. Chesterton said of “the great Gaels of Ireland” that “all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad”. Thus did he highlight what Gillian O’Brien identifies as our “fascination with the morbid, the melancholic,…
Mainly about books By the books editor The great and internationally-regarded art galleries of Ireland (though now for a period of months necessarily closed) are institutions we are all rightly proud of. I sometime think, though, that they do not always do full justice to some talents who worked in what some might think of…
I keep a sharp eye on what’s coming up on a wide range of TV and radio channels, and plan ahead accordingly. But sometimes it’s nice to get an unexpected surprise. Late last Sunday night I was having a look at what Shalom World TV, an online Catholic channel, had to offer and was lucky…
Quiet Times With God: a Devotional by Joyce Meyer (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99) This is the sort of book that has a very long history in Christianity. Common in the Middle Ages and earlier, they changed their form at the Reformation. Some, like the book of hours of the Duc du Berry, were wonders of the…
In the aftermath of one of the most controversial and divisive presidential elections in American history, it might be an opportune time to survey what President Trump did in his four years in office. There are a number of DVDs on Amazon that deal both with his presidency and his life up to it. There’s…
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone