The Joy of God: Collected Writings by Sr Mary David with a foreword by Fr Erik Vardan (Bloomsbury, £12.99) This collection of essays, or rather talks, reveals a very interesting character. The author Sr Mary David had a late vocation. American born she was educated there, attending Loyola University and the University of Virginia, before crossing…
No doubt the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (NYOI) is already planning its courses and programmes for its golden jubilee next year. Founded in 1970 by the intrepid Olive Smith (often mischievously but endearingly referred to as ‘Granny’ Smith by the teenage players) and the Dublin-born, London-based violinist Hugh Maguire, who was also NYOI’s conductor…
The Bible Tells Me So…Why defending Scripture has made us unable to read it by Peter Ennis (Hodder & Stoughton, €14.99) This book, by an American academic and evangelical, is one which will interest a wide audience. Through many years of both teaching and preaching, he came to face a problem. The further he studies the…
One of last week’s biggest news stories was the election of Boris Johnson as leader of the UK Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister. It has made for some fascinating political discussions in the media. Last weekend, Sunday (BBC Radio 4) asked the question ‘Does Boris do God?’ It was an interesting discussion but rather…
Dom Eugene Boylan: Trappist Monk, Scientist & Writer by Thomas J. Morrissey SJn (Messenger Publications, €19.95) This is an important biography of Dom Eugene Boylan, the well-known abbot of Mount St Joseph, the Cistercian Abbey at Roscrea. He was the author of two once widely read books, This Tremendous Lover and Difficulties in Mental Prayer, which…
The Victorians: The Titans Who Forged Modern Britain by Jacob Rees-Mogg (W.H. Allen, €20.00) At the time of writing the futures of Brexit and the British Conservative party are still unsettled. But whatever happens we can expect the author of this book to have some role in it. Jacob Rees-Mogg is being spoken of by some…
An Urban Sketcher’s Galway by Róisín Curé (Currach Books, €22.99) My wife and I often go down to Galway by train to have lunch, then a walk in Salthill by the sea, rounded off with a browse in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop – truly the best in Ireland. The city, in our experience has changed dramatically since…
I had the good fortune to interview Leonard Cohen in 1988 when he was promoting his I’m Your Man album. During the course of the interview he told me Marianne Ihlen, a Norwegian woman he met on the Greek island of Hydra during the 1960s, was the love of his life. At the Irish Film…
We’ve had the exposure of child abuse scandals in the Church, in sports, in scouting and there’s been the #MeToo movement. But I still feel there’s a scandal to hear about relating to the abuse of children in the film industry. A few years ago former child actor Corey Feldman made accusations but it didn’t…
“I do not understand people who struggle to understand this Pope,” begins Mark Shea over at patheos.com/blogs/markshea. “I don’t really believe they find him ‘confusing’. I think they just don’t want to listen to him.” Perhaps Mark overreaches in saying that everything people need to know about Francis is summed up in the words “he has…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Greg Daly