Journey to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas, by John Mann, foreword by Bishop Brendan Leahy (Messenger Publications, €12.95 /£11.95) Advent and Christmas 2023, from the website of Sacred Space (Messenger Publications, €7.95 / £6.95) Every year it has been customary for everyone to complain about Christmas “coming too soon”, as a…
October means only one thing for Irish opera lovers – the Wexford Festival founded in 1951 by local GP and opera enthusiast, Dr Tom Walsh. His idea was the revival of operas that had disappeared from the repertoire and injecting them with new life. While this policy continues, Wexford also produces relatively recent compositions. This…
In such fractious times it’s reassuring to find a programme that accentuates the positive, and you’ll frequently find that on TG4. Tarrthálaithe na hÉireann (TG4, Thursdays) is a new series highlighting the work of the rescue services. Last week’s episode featured the work of mountain rescue teams, with a particular focus on Reek Sunday in…
This is a fine, solid, beautifully produced book, running to some 250 pages which will delight any one in any way interested in the history of Ireland’s capital as expressed in maps over the centuries.
Mention of Siamsa Tíre brings to mind Fr Pat Ahern and vice-versa. Apart from co-founding Siamsa Tíre in 1973 Pat was its sprid, the spirit that invigorated it over the years, much to the cultural benefit of Ireland.
Media bias can be subtle sometimes, other times it can be laughably blatant. I got what I think is a case of the latter last week.
I don’t have a Smartphone. I only have a stupid one. It’s a Nokia.
This unusual exhibition at the Irish Architectural Archive (IAA), which has another week to run, is well worth catching, and the names of those mounting it should be noted for a sight of their future work.
Ignatius Loyola Christian Mystic, by Brian O’Leary (Messenger Books €19.95/ £18.95) Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises have been explored by readers since they were written, and have proved over the centuries to be immensely influential. The idea of ‘composition of place’ can even be traced, so I believe, in the earliest impulses to write…
A further recollection from an active literary life A most memorable day in my life as a writer was my visit to the Palace of Westminster, the home of the British Parliament. This was occasioned by the publication in 1973 of my book Listowel and its Vicinity, which included an account of the Hare…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Ruadhán Jones