The Biggest Little Farm (PG) “They told us we were crazy,” says narrator John Chester of his ambition to create a farm with his wife Molly that would be totally in harmony with nature in this fascinating documentary set in Ventura County, “and they were right.” It started with Todd. That’s their wide-eyed dog. His…
The Royal Family in Britain has been hitting the headlines recently and it’s not all good stuff. Coincidentally, I presume, the latest series of The Crown landed in its entirety on Netflix last week and I’m enjoying getting through it. First hurdle for the programme makers was to effect the transition of actors – especially…
Dipping into Advent: Reflections for Advent & Christmas by Alan Hilliard (Messenger Publications, €9.95) Sacred Space: Advent & Christmas 2019-2020 by The Irish Jesuits (Messenger Publications, €4.95) Candles in the Night: The Advent Experience by Anna Burke (Veritas, €7.99/£7.00) Whatever about family feasting, fun and commercial excess, Christmas for Christians of all traditions around the…
The Tribe: The Inside Story of Irish Power and Influence in US Politics by Caitríona Perry (Gill Books, €22.99/ £19.99) Felix M. Larkin It is often said that the US is a “melting pot”, a fusion of nationalities and ethnicities – but that is true only to some extent. Many Americans, even those whose…
Time was when RTÉ ran its own ‘Musician of the Future’ competition. However, the scene changed with the station deciding to discontinue its involvement. This disappointed many not least Jane Carty who had a long-term commitment to the competition and other RTÉ ventures advancing the careers of young musicians. Undaunted, Ms Carty decided ‘Musician of…
Ireland Through Birds: Journeys in search of a wild nation by Conor W. O’Brien (Merrion Press, €16.95) Christopher Moriarty Like many, perhaps the majority of, birdwatchers, Conor W. O’Brien became addicted to the hobby in childhood. He shares his joy in encounters with birds and the wild environment in general in this remarkable book.…
We can get very parochial, and not in a good, value-your-parish kind of way. More and more I find this about so many aspects of Irish media, and public life in general. We think our issues are of global significance, sometimes a laughable hubris in the eyes of the universe. These thoughts were prompted by…
Ireland: A voice among the nations by John Gibney, Michael Kennedy & Kate O’Malley (Royal Irish Academy, €30.00) Joe Carroll Ireland’s foreign policy over the past 100 years may seem secondary to how the country has evolved politically, economically and culturally, but this book shows how closely they are intertwined. This is “an official history…
101 Reasons why Cork is Better than Dublin by Jim Fitzpatrick (Mercier Press, €6.99 / £5.99) Dubliners will need a lot of persuading that there is any substance in Jim Fitzpatrick’s notion that Cork is a better place: if it is why are so many Corkonians in Dublin? The rivalries of the two cities are…
The Village of Bernadette: The Irish Connections – Lourdes Stories, Miracles & Cures by Colm Keane & Una O’Hagan (Capel Island, €14.99) Lourdes has long been a premier destination of Irish pilgrims. It has answered to something in the Irish psyche. This is the theme that the husband and wife writing team of Colm Keane…
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello