The Great Famine in Tralee and North Kerry by Bryan MacMahon (Mercier Press , €35) The Great Famine, or ‘Black ‘45’ as it is known in the oral tradition, was a seminal event in the modern history of Ireland. It initiated the great emigration to the ‘New World’. Regrettably it also grafted on to the folk…
60 at Roscrea: Celebrating the Roscrea Conference at Mt St Joseph Abbey, 1987-2017 edited by George Cunningham (The Roscrea People; 300 copies numbered and signed; nos 1-150 h/b, €40, and 150 Card covers, nos 151-300, €20; p/p €5 within Ireland.) Terry Barry Ireland is truly lucky for a small island to have so many excellent local…
Frederic William Burton: For the Love of Art Exhibition curated by Marie Bourke, with essays by Patrick Duffy and others, edited by Claire Crowley (National Gallery of Ireland, €15.95) Thanks to RTÉ we know that ‘The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ is Ireland’s favourite painting. Yet experience tells us, too, that many who admire it are…
John Hearne: Architect of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland by Eugene Broderick (Irish Academic Press, €29.99) A study of all constitutions promulgated since the French Revolution in 1789, by the Chicago Law School, found that the average constitution lasted a mere 17 years, before it was replaced. By that measure, the Irish Constitution, which will be…
Centenary / Comoradh Cead Bliain: Ireland remembers 1916 / Tugann Eire 1916 chun cuimhne edited by Ronan McGreevy (Government Publications, €25) Felix M. Larkin Most people take the view that the centenary commemoration of the 1916 Rising was a “Goldilocks moment”. Whereas the 50th anniversary events in 1966 were too hot, and those for the…
Mors Britannica: Lifestyle & Death-Style in Britain Today by Douglas J. Davies (Oxford University Press, £30.00) Death: The Graveside Companion edited by Joanna Ebenstein (Thames & Hudson, £29.95) Halloween, or rather the Eve of All Saints, has passed once again, and again with perhaps less religious observance than in past centuries. Halloween seems to date only from…
It’s a common observation among informed Christians – regardless of their branch of the Christian family – that when it comes to covering religion, the mass media is embarrassingly out of its depth. Genuine mastery of the subject is rare, which is one reason why John Allen being hired by The Boston Globe in 2014…
Pat O’ Kelly As Wexford Festival aficionados will be enjoying the final performances of unfamiliar works by Cherubini, Foroni and Alfano at the National Opera House this weekend, the National Concert Hall is the setting, on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday next, for something less esoteric – Lyric Opera’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata. Through…
I once went on a retreat but found out only on arrival that it was a silent one! I survived the shock, and at the final meal, when everyone could talk, it felt rather grating. That memory returned as I was watching Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery, last week on BBC Four, a separate episode…
EARLY PERIOD The long line of biographical investigations of Martin Luther’s life, opinions, and teachings began with the memoir written by his friend and fellow reformer Philip Melanchthon. Indeed what is thought of as ‘Lutheran theology’ also began with Melanchthon, for though Luther was a powerful preacher, and a man of strong opinions, he was not…
Peter Costello
Greg Daly
Brendan O’Regan