Pat O’Kelly The final programme in the NCH’s 2018/19 International Concert Series on June 14 brings the welcome return of the London Symphony Orchestra. Under Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda, the concert features music by Beethoven, Shostakovich and Berlioz. Russian Daniil Trifonov is the soloist in Shostakovich’s 1st Piano Concerto with UK trumpeter Philip Cobb…
Mainly About Books By the books editor The other day there came into my hands a unique book, quite unknown I think to readers outside Italy. It is called Monte Cassino under Fire: War Diaries from the Abbey, by Eusebio Grossetti and Martino Matronola, edited by Faustino Avagliano (Abbazia di Montecassino, 2018). My father…
It was inevitable – every time abortion is introduced into a country, horror stories follow. And it’s not like people weren’t warned. The story broke last Thursday but on Today With Seán O’Rourke (RTÉ Radio 1) last Friday; the host’s introduction summed it up – “abortion of baby that did not have a fatal abnormality”.…
The Badly Behaved Bible: Thinking again about the story of Scripture by Nick Page (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99) This is a book which many people really need, but do not realise that they do. Anyone truly interested in the power of the Scriptures should read it. I suspect that for many people it may have a…
What Have the Irish ever Done for Us? by David Forsythe (Currach Books, €14.99). This is an interesting collection of brief biographical accounts of Irish people who have made a significant impact on the world at large. The author defines an Irish person as one born in Ireland, or residing in the country, or identifying as…
The History and Heritage of St James’s Hospital Dublin by Davis Coakley & Mary Coakley (Four Courts Press, €40.00) These days the site at St James’s Hospital has become a controversial place due to the development scheme for the National Children’s hospital, which has in recent times been taking up so much space in the newspapers.…
Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square, Dublin Beit Wing Rooms 6-10, Exhibition runs to July 7 These days, when everyone is so conscious of the world around them and with environmental matters, it will come as a surprise to many to discover that the admiration of landscape is quite…
Francis Derangement Syndrome hit a new low over the last fortnight, with the publication of a preposterous open letter from a handful of Catholics calling on bishops to “address the situation of Pope Francis’ public adherence to heresy”. Published on the ever-untrustworthy lifesitenews.com with the tagline ‘Prominent clergy, scholars accuse Pope Francis of heresy in…
I’ve often wondered why Ireland doesn’t have a dedicated high-profile Christian arts festival. There was plenty of arts content during the Eucharistic Congress and the World Meeting of Families, but an annual event would be in order. A few years ago Glenealy, Co. Wicklow, had its MAD (‘Make a Difference’) festival thanks to the late…
Tolkien (12A) We’re in World War I. A soldier stands in the trenches in the heat of battle. Memory and desire percolate in his brain. He has a fever. He’s looking for a lost friend. His mind wanders back to the past – to the poverty of his childhood, the death of his mother, finding…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Greg Daly
Aubrey Malone