John Mulderig From the moment of his election in early 2013, Pope Francis naturally became one of the world’s most newsworthy individuals. But it was especially in the latter half of his pontificate that he proved an intriguing figure for moviemakers. Both documentarians and the creators of feature films were drawn to him over that…
H.M.S TARA, by Richard Burnell, edited by Gareth Rowlands (Holyhead Maritime Museum, £7.95 / €9.50 approx.) The RMS Leinster, an Irish ship operating as a mail-boat, was torpedoed by a German U-boat on October 10, 1918, while outward bound for Holyhead. She sank some 4 nautical miles off the Kish Lightship. The exact number…
Easter is normally a pretty intense time for religious programming. This year however it was wall to wall religion in the media because of the death of Pope Francis. Last I wrote about my initial shock and sadness and initial reaction in the media. The week following was dominated by coverage of the Holy Father’s…
Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone: The Art of Friendship, by Niamh MacNally & Brendan Rooney, with texts by Sarah McAulife & Joseph McBrinn (National Gallery, €45.00 / £39.00) In 1924 the young Irish artists Evie Hone and her friend Mainie Jellett held their one and only joint exhibition in the gallery of the Society…
I write this column in a state of shock – at the dramatic news of the death of Pope Francis. I saw the sad news breaking on Sky News last Monday morning. The general reaction was one of shock but not surprise, given the Pontif’s ill-health. Last Sunday, watching the coverage of the Easter ceremonies…
Two worlds. In one of them a tinpot Don Corleone called Power (Aidan Gillen) presides over a ruthless drugs ring. In the other, shellshocked ex-Afghanistan soldier Danny (Luke McQuillan) makes a bid for shared custody of his son with his long-suffering wife Gill (Jade Jordan), aided by kind-hearted social worker Kate (Louise Bourke) after a…
Pope Francis was a quite unique figure, a pastor whose achievements and teachings will come to be more and more appreciated in the decades, even centuries to come. Through him the Catholic Church, perhaps even the wider realm of Christianity as a whole, in all its varieties, may find a new and fitting direction, replete…
Richard Burton was the twelfth of thirteen children born in the Welsh village of Pontrhydyfen 100 years ago. His mother died two years later. Richard Jenkins – his birth name – would probably have spent his working life ‘down the mines’ like his father and most of the other male inhabitants of the village were…
In our largely Christian country, you might think that an act of forgiveness wouldn’t be that noteworthy, but maybe our residual faith has left the concept lagging behind. And so it was that on Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1, Thursday) I first heard the story of the court case in which stabbing victim and army chaplain…
T.P. O’Mahony The Councils of the Church: A Short History, by Norman P. Tanner SJ (Herder & Herder, £14.99 / €20.00) The debate within the Catholic Church about conciliarism has waxed and waned since the 15th to the 19th centuries. The central question – where does ultimate authority in the Church reside, with…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone