Courtney McGrailby J. Anthony Gaughan Former Minister for Education Martin McGuinness once described Canon Patrick Marron as formidable, and so he is. This is clear from Fr Marron’s recollections of his life-long service in the Diocese of Clogher. Born in Carrickmacross in 1932, Marron was educated at the local Patrician Brothers’ school and later in St…
Category: Reviews
The folk life of old Limerick
Peter CostelloOld Church Street: A Memoir of Limerick by Críostóir Ó Floinn (Original Writing, €15.00 + p&p / £5.23 Kindle edition)
Searching for answers in an airport
After retrieving his sister’s body from Berlin, an unnamed American expat grapples with feelings of love, loss and guilt as he sifts through the pieces of his life while sitting in the Munich airport waiting to fly home. Written in a stream of consciousness style, with no chapter breaks, the narrative weaves in and out…
The troubled soul of monk Thomas Merton
Paul KeenanDivine Discontent: The Prophetic Voice of Thomas Merton by John Moses, foreword by Rowan Williams (Bloomsbury Continuum, €25.00 / £20.00 hb)
The intimations of mortality: an ode
Aubrey MaloneThe Fault in Our Stars (12A) It’s not always a good idea to meet your idols, as they say: the gilt has a habit of rubbing off on your fingers. This is the experience of 18-year-old cancer victim Hazel (Shailene Woodley) after she has an underwhelming rendezvous with Peter van Houten (Willem Dafoe), the ill-mannered author of…
The curiosities of Dublin
The World of Books
The last of his kind
The Loneliest Boy in the World: The Last Child of the Great Blasket Island by Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin, with Patricia Ahearn (The Collins Press, €12.99 / £10.50)
The great Lords of Leinster
The Decline and Fall of the Dukes of Leinster 1872-1948; Love, war, debt and madness by Terence Dooley (Four Courts Press, €24.95/£19.95)
The saintly son of Bergamo
Good Pope John by Michael Collins (Columba Press, €9.99 / £7.99)
Challenges faced and overcome
Brendan O’ReganAn inspiring story of life fully lived