In 1915 the United States was passing through a period of recollection marking the 50th anniversary of the end of Civil War, also known, depending on one’s point of view as ‘The Great Rebellion’ or ‘The War Between the States’, which had ended with the surrender of the Confederate leader General Lee at Appomattox Court…
Last Friday being St Valentine’s Day it wasn’t surprising that love, romance, sex and marriage figured in media discussions. Our Divine Sparks (RTÉ Radio 1, Friday) featured some historical background about the saint. Apparently, 3rd-century Roman Emperor Claudius II banned marriage because married men don’t make for good soldiers! So, Valentine performed secret marriages and…
Irish Nurses in the NHS: An Oral History , by Louise Ryan, Gráinne McPolin and Neha Doshi (Four Courts Press, €17.95pb) Anthony Gaughan In the second half of the twentieth century, thousands of Irish girls migrated to the UK to train as nurses. They were subsequently employed in hospitals throughout England, Scotland and Wales. …
How important is art in films? Are we living in a world where money rules OK and everything else gets squashed into the background? One of the first films I saw when I came to Dublin was Vittorio De Sica’s earthy Bicycle Thieves, a ‘cinema verité’ story of a man and his son living on…
Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity, by Diarmaid MacCulloch (Allen Lane, £41.96 / €42.99 ) Robert Marshall Diarmaid MacCulloch is emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. He has written extensively on the history of the Church and its Reformations. Lower than the Angels, running to…
I always love hearing about green shoots when it comes to religion, and especially in relation to young people. On The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, Wednesday) there was a discussion on the matter with Wendy Grace of Spirit Radio and singer-songwriter Ciara Lawless. This was on foot or a survey from the UK that showed Gen…
Journey Without Maps, a travel book by Graham Greene (Vintage Classics. £14.99) At the end of January President Trump issued a proclamation on Black History Month promoting to all officials and members of the public that it might concern, naming as he did so a short roster of notable Black Americans. But it is…
The 11th Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition took place at the National Concert Hall at the end of last month following auditions held in several European centres as well as in New York. The triennial competition, set up by the redoubtable Ronnie, who died in 2021 and to whom there was a repeated and fitting…
Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis, with Carlo Musso, translated by Richard Owen (Penguin / Viking, £18.99 / €23.00) I want You to Be Happy, by Pope Francis (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99 / €20.50 ) Pope Francis, it must be always kept in mind, even by his critics, is a unique figure. For the…
Gutenberg’s Cradle : Incunables at Marsh’s Library, Dublin, a catalogue compiled by Sara D’Amico (Marsh’s Library with the support of the Consortium European Research Libraries and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, €20.00; can be ordered directly from information@marshlibrary.ie) We are continually told that living as we do in an era…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone