John Moriarty: Not the Whole Story by Mary McGillicuddy (Lilliput Press. €20.00) John Moriarty has published some fascinating books. Written in a baroque style, they are dotted with quotations from the classics of world literature. They also include numerous allusions and references to a wide variety of civilisations, cultures, mythologies, philosophies, religions and the great minds…
White Elephants: The Country House and the State in Independent Ireland by Emer Crooke (UCD Press, €40.00) These days, when no couple ever seems to get married in their native parish anymore, a country house hotel often plays a more important role in any case than the church. With wedding celebrations now lasting three or four…
Mainly About Books By the books editor It is a truism to say that Lent these days is nothing like it was several centuries ago, indeed just several decades ago. In our era of immediate self-satisfaction the idea of going without is unpopular, unless one is on a fashionable diet. In the middle ages…
One of the least endearing aspects of modern media culture is the cult of celebrities. Make ‘em dance, drop them on remote islands, pop them into quiz shows. It’s not the worst idea to send them on a pilgrimage. And so it was with Pilgrimage: Road to Rome (BBC 2) a new series that started…
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…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Greg Daly