Gothic: Building Castles in post-Union Ireland, by Judith Hill (Four Courts Press, € 50.00 / £45.00) Castles have an immediate appeal to many people, myself among them. I can still recall as a special moment of my childhood my first visit with my family to Charleville Castle near Tullamore in a now long distant…
The Ox and the Ass of the Manger, by Jules Supervielle, translated from the original French by Sr Elizabeth McGeown (Published at the Carmelite Monastery, Star of the Sea, Seapark, Malahide, €4.99 plus p+p; email rmebodc@gmail.com) This is an unusual little book. Intended perhaps as a Christmas gift, this is a poetic evocation of the nativity…
Ulysses in Limericks, by Tom Matthews (New Island Books, €9.95) The caricatures of Tom Matthews have been a fixture of Irish and British publications for several decades. His talent is of a partial kind. With great economy of line he can deflate those overblown attitudes which are so common these if only in the…
The earthquakes in Venezuela dominated news and current affairs coverage last week, as the numbers of casualties rose daily. On Sunday (BBC Radio 4) Edward Stourton, describing Venezuela as a mainly Catholic country, spoke to Bishop Carlos Marquez from Caracas, the capital. He said the Venezuelan people were noted for their solidarity, and that the…
Joe and Angela bicker in an apartment. They’re having Pina and Hawk, the couple from upstairs, over for a meal. But Angela hasn’t told Joe. The marriage is obviously in trouble. The Invite (15), a remake of The People Upstairs, plays out like ‘Ninety Shades of Virginia Woolf.’ As the day goes on and the…
Woody Allen was 90 recently. The milestone put me in mind of his oft-quoted quip, “It’s not that I’m afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” Woody mixes comedy and tragedy often. He sometimes describes himself as a cross between Ingmar Bergman – the gloomy Swedish film director –…
Asailín Abú, téacs: Pauline Devine; obair ealaíne: Fergal O’Connor; clúdach crua (An Gúm, €12.00; eolas@forasnagaeilge.ie) Leabhar lándaite dea-mhaisithe do pháistí é seo. Ar phaistí atá sna bunranganna agus meánranganna bunscoile atá sé dírithe, a shamhlóinn, páistí a bhfuil blas deas den Ghaeilge acu. É sin ráite, gabhann na pictiúir ar gach leathanach go hálainn leis an…
Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, by David Hockney (Thames & Hudson, second revised edition, £30.00 / €34.50PB) In the many articles covering the death of British artist David Hockney a fortnight ago, few made mention of an aspect of his thinking that those interested in the difficulties of art history…
Dazzling Darkness: The Lives and Afterlives of the Christian Mystics, by James Harpur (Hurst Books, £25.00 / €30.00) Though these are for many “the times that try men’s souls” – the phrase of an American patriot of a time long past – interest and concern with the extended tradition of Christian mysticism has not declined in the…
I was downcast last week to see a vote in the Dáil supporting a wider abortion regime. Our mainstream media have tended to avoid the abortion issue, a kind of ‘don’t spook the horses’ approach, but it did get an airing last week. Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday) gave the issue detailed coverage, and the…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone