What with the Olympic Games followed by the Paralympics, let alone the normal goings on and a clamour of French politics, Paris has been satiated by spectacle these last few months. There had been hopes of another kind of spectacle. It was hoped by many who had followed as well as they could the great…
Playing Dice with God by Richard Clarke (Dominican Publications. €10.00 / £8.50) Richard Clarke, who was born in 1949, is a retired Irish Anglican Archbishop and author. From 2012 to 2020, he served as the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, A long varied and distinguished career in the Church of Ireland, which included a…
This month commemorates the bicentenary of the birth of the Austrian organist/composer Anton Bruckner. The anniversary was celebrated at the NCH last week through his 4th Symphony (Romantic) played by the visiting Bavarian Radio Orchestra, one of Europe’s finest broadcasting ensembles, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Born in Ansfelden in Upper Austria, Bruckner…
There are some stories you just can’t ignore, even if you want to because they are so repulsive. And so it was with the release last week of the O’Toole Report into child sexual abuse at schools run by religious orders, effectively Catholic schools. It should be immediately clear that something is wrong here –…
The Companion to Irish Traditional Music edited by Fintan Vallely (Cork University Press, €69.00 / £65.00 / $75.00 ) This is a magisterial study of Irish Traditional Music. At the outset the author defines this genre of music. For him it is a body of melody, song and dance and associated activities that comes from the period…
More Power to You: Sarah Purser, a force for Irish Art: A major exploration of Sarah Purser (1848-1943), her extraordinary legacy, and enduring impact on the Irish arts scene Curated by Logan Sisley, Head of Collections, Hugh Lane Gallery The major exhibition at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery for the autumn of this year is…
A Hundred Roads to Here: Introductions to Meditation by Donagh O’Shea OP (Dominican Publications, €12.00 / £10.50) This is a book which will have I think an immediate appeal to those who are attracted to the idea of mediation, but have somehow failed to get the knack of it. Donagh O’Shea is fully alert to their…
A cavalcade of beautiful losers forms a theatre group behind bars in New York in Sing Sing (15). It’s a feelgood that, Divine G (Colman Domingo) informs us in the introduction, deals with the ‘transformative’ power of art. Is it a good idea for an actor to praise a film before you see it? Is that…
Prequels and sequels have a mixed history. I prefer the latter, because if I’m into a story I like to see it continued rather than reversed. Rings of Power (Amazon Prime, Wednesday), a Lord of the Rings prequel of sorts, is back for a second series, with the first three episodes ‘dropped’ already. I nodded…
We Are Saved Only Together. Living in the Revolutionary Vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement by Colin Miller, foreword by Seth Haines (Ave Maria Press, €19.50 / £16.30 / US $ 17.95) The parable of the Good Samaritan is surely the best known of Jesus’ parables. It is among the most easily understood:…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone