Peter CostelloCroagh Patrick: Irelandís Holy Mountain edited by Harry Hughes (Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee, €14.95 / £12.70; Croagh Patrick Visitor Centre, Teach na Miasa, Murrisk, Co. Mayo; email: info@croagh-patrick.com) We are all familiar with the photographs of pilgrimages making their slow way up the slops of Croagh Patrick at the time of the annual pilgrimage. The…
Category: Reviews
Music: Practice makes perfect
Fr Michael Collins All around the country, young musicians are busy practising. Some are getting ready for their Leaving Certificate and State exams. Others are getting ready for Third Level exams. But a great number are preparing for the Feis Ceoil. Founded in 1896, the Feis Ceoil has seen several generations of musicians…
Recent books in brief
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament for the 21 Century By Richard Tobin CSsR (Redemptorist Communications,€5/£4.50) This is a little prayer book for private meditations. In his introduction, Fr Tobin writes about the nature of the Eucharist, adding that ”keeping the bread of communion in the tabernacle is a reverent prolonging of the Mass, to give us…
A key text in Irish history
The Course of Irish History Edited by T.W. Moody and F.X. Martin (Mercier Press, €20.00/£16.00) Felix M. Larkin This book, now re-issued in a fifth edition, has been one of the most widely read of our history books. Indeed, it can be said to be itself a part of our history. First published in 1966,…
The closeness of our compassionate God
The Loving God By Wilfrid Harrington OP (Columba €12.99./ £10.85) Anthony Redmond Albert Einstein once said that the religious person was one who had found an answer to the question: ”What is the ultimate meaning of life?” For the atheist, there is no answer to the ultimate yet immediate questions of human life. Ivan Karamazov…
Secrets of the maid of Orleans
The Maid and the Queen: the Secret History of Joan of Arc and Yolande of Aragon By Nancy Goldstone (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, €23.95/£20) Peter Hegarty This year marks the 600th anniversary of the birth of Joan of Arc. The story of St Joan, the illiterate peasant girl who led the French army to victory against…
The junior tenors with superior voices
Fr Michael Collins Last week, I was delighted to meet the three Italian teenagers who are the musical sensation, Il Volo. They were in Dublin to appear on the Late Late Show and promote their new album, Il Volo. The three singers were in Dublin for just two and a half days, staying in…
Recent books in brief
Navigating the Gospels: Mark By Philip Fogarty SJ (Columba Press, €12.55 / £10.46) This volume concludes Fr Fogarty’s set of guides to the Gospels. Intended for the general reader rather than the student, they aim through the use of the New Revised Standard Versions texts and the work of present day scholars and theologians, to open…
The World of Books – by the Books Editor
The poet Yeats (to distinguish him from the painter Yeats) was of the opinion that ”Words alone are certain good”. And so they are, but only if we know what they mean, and use them properly. The other day, in discussing the consequences of a burglary, a friend remarked to me that the Civic Guard…
The last of the Irish wolves
Wolves in Ireland: A natural and cultural history By Kieran Hickey (Open Air / Four Courts Press, €29.95 / £25.97) Christopher Moriarty Wolves are beautiful creatures, with many of the most attractive characteristics of the domestic dogs of all shapes and sizes which are descended from them. That is the current view of the majority…