Pat O’Kelly ‘Treat’, meaning something that gives great pleasure, seems to be out of fashion but I am reminded of it recently in three programmes at the National Concert Hall, which I consider merit the accolade. The first comes from the period-instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) conducted by Budapest-born pianist András…
Cathal Brugha by Fergus O’Farrell (UCD Press, €17.00) Cathal Brugha was a leading figure in Ireland’s revolutionary period. He remains among the most significant yet controversial of all the leaders who contributed to the making of an independent Ireland. He was born in Dublin on July 18, 1874. Having attended Belvedere College, he was employed as…
Freedom from Evil Spirits: Released from fear, addiction & the Devil by Pat Collins CM (Columba, €12.99 / £10.99) From time to time we hear exhortations, especially from Rome, of the need for more exorcists. Fr Pat Collins is one of the few priests in Ireland with wide experience of exorcism. The title of his book…
Pedro Aruppe SJ: Mystic with Open Eyes by Brian Grogan SJ, with an introduction by Peter McVerry SJ (Messenger Publications, €4.95) The cause of beatification of Fr Pedro Arrupe, the historical Superior General of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983, is now official. In a letter to the Jesuits at large, the current superior Fr Artuso…
Catholic blogging is, in many ways, a thing of the past. My own thethirstygargoyle.blogspot.ie site was last updated a year and a half ago, for instance, with just two posts from the previous 12 months, while it’s been almost four years since the ‘Lux Occulta’ blog of the pseudonymous ‘Shane’ at lxoa.wordpress.com saw any new…
After last week’s review of the excellent programme on Fr Peyton, I’m in positive mode again. Last week BBC 2 Northern Ireland started a fine new series Oilithreacht (Pilgrimage), under the ‘BBC Gaeilge’ banner. Monday night’s episode was a warm treatment of the Lough Derg pilgrimage. It was promising that the focus was mainly on…
The Limit Of (15A) It’s often said that modern bank robbers don’t go into buildings with their guns blazing anymore. No, they stand behind the counter in sharp suits clicking keys. In other words, they’re the banks themselves. We all know how badly they behaved when they were throwing 100% mortgages at people during Ireland’s boom years.…
The Rosary Priest: A Biography of Patrick Peyton CSC by Tom Mulligan (Veritas, €15.00) I had the privilege of meeting Fr Patrick Peyton, CSC. A handsome man, standing at six feet four inches, he was a refreshingly simple person. And yet there was an aura about him. It was the same aura one sensed in the…
The Border: The legacy of a century of Anglo-Irish politics by Diarmaid Ferriter (Profile Books, €15.99 / £12.99) Felix M. Larkin On the very first page of this book, Prof. Ferriter speaks of the Border being “imposed” on the island of Ireland – by implication, against the will of the people of the island. This reflects what…
Mainly About Books by the Books Editor We are all aware of the major shrines of Ireland, and of the customs associated with them: Knock, Croagh Patrick and Lough Derg are part of Irish culture. Then there are the holy wells, and the little places associated with more local saints, well favoured across a…
Peter Costello
Greg Daly
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone