In the aftermath of the elections and referendum we can rejoice that we have so many chances to vote, but there are worrying signs for our democracy and the role of media. I’ve never been a fan of RTÉ’s podium style debates (e.g. on last week’s Prime Time specials and Claire Byrne Live), but it’s…
Few articles have raised more eyebrows among Catholics online of late than James Carroll’s inflammatory piece in theatlantic.com entitled ‘Abolish the priesthood’ and subtitled ‘To save the Church, Catholics must detach themselves from the clerical hierarchy – and take the Faith back into their own hands’. By no means worthless, and in some ways a…
Live While You Can: A memoir of faith, hope and the power of acceptance by Fr Tony Coote (Hachette Books Ireland, €15.99 / £13.99) Dancing to my Death with the Love Called Cancer by Daniel O’Leary (Columba Books, €16.99 / £14.99) It has often been said that in polite western society death is the…
Richard Devane SJ: Social Commentator and Advocate, 1876 – 1951 by Martin Walsh (Messenger Publications, €19.95) Thomas J. Morrissey This is a welcome tribute to a man of great zeal and energy, of strong social and religious commitment, who influenced many people, but alienated some by his impatience to bring about change. Born and educated in…
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.…
Brendan O’Regan
Greg Daly
Peter Costello