Religion, Landscape & Settlement in Ireland, Kevin Whelan (Four Courts Press, €24.95 / £39.99) The cover of Kevin Whelan’s new book, which shows early Christian beehive cells on the Skelligs, might give the hesitating purchaser the impression that he deals in detail with developments from the introduction of Christianity to Ireland. But in fact the text…
Christ Alive: Reflections from the Shadows of Life into the Light of God, John Deane-O’Keefe (Resource Publications, Eugene, Oregon USA, £19.50; available through Amazon) This is an unusual book. The note on the author tells us that John Deane -O’’Keefe is a church pastor, prison and hospital chaplain, and forensic criminologist. This suggests a rare…
Michaelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, Ross King (Pimlico, £9.99) Quite by chance I was reading this book at the time the Conclave began. I thought it would be interesting to make the decorations of the Sistine Chapel the focus of some reflections on the election of the Pope. But like the rest of the world I…
Seamus Cashman Plenitude, by Thomas McCarthy (Carcanet Press, £11.99 / €14.99) Tom McCarthy’s new collection Plenitude has that centrality of ‘pleasure’ and ‘vocation’ at the heart of poetry’s creative energies which Auden once alluded to, as indeed do so many of his recent prose works. Plenitude completes a trilogy of collections, the previous books are Pandemonium (2016) and Prophecy (2019), all…
Seven Prophets and the Culture War: Undoing the Philosophies of a World in Crisis, by Alexandre Havard (Scepter Publishers, $17.95; available online through Amazon) This is a study which should be in the hands of every thinking person, university graduate and those who influence public opinion. At the outset the author describes the culture war which…
Fr Alan Hilliard may well be familiar to many readers who are out of bed early enough through his contributions to RTÉ’s ‘A Word in Edgeways’, 3 minute long broadcasts at 6.15am in the mornings from which the pieces in this new book of his derive. Having got up that early he spends much of…
I could fill the whole paper reviewing how the media covered the Conclave and the election of Pope Leo XIV – it feels weird to write that name, but I suspect we’ll get well used to it. On Times Radio Breakfast (Tuesday), in a discussion on the Conclave, presenter Stig Abel reflected on the process…
Nicolas Cage has been flying under the radar for so many years now we could be forgiven for forgetting just how great an actor he is. With two Oscar nominations in his quiver (one converted) and a plethora of other awards, his career should be the envy of many more hyped talents. Fighting off charges…
When I heard that RTE Investigates was doing yet another abuse-themed exposé related to the Church, I thought, ‘Here we go again’. Broadcast of Christian Brothers: The Assets, the Abusers (RTÉ One, Thursday) was delayed after the death of Pope Francis. Perhaps they thought it would be tone-deaf to show it so soon after, or…
The People’s Celebration of the Eucharist, by Fintan Lyons OSB (Messenger Publications, €12.95 / £10.95) When it comes to the Eucharist, some of the toughest question are the simplest: who celebrates the Eucharist and what are they celebrating?” Fintan Lyons’ little book examines this basic question: just who are we when we celebrate the Eucharist?…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone