When I look back on the year in the media I usually see what comes to mind before re-reading my columns. This gives me a good impression of what really stands out, though I’m often surprised by what I’ve forgotten about. The first thing that springs to mind is war. Last year it was the…
Thomas McCarthy Theo Dorgan’s Once Was A Boy (Dedalus Press, Dublin) is a memoir of childhood told through poems, many of them written in highly effective tercets. The book is a singular act of recovery, like the best memoir, of a near-inaccessible past through precise description and a child’s heightened awareness. This is a wonderful…
The Universe Provides: Finding Miracles and Inspiration in Unexpected Places, by Eddie Gilmore (Darton, Longman & Todd, £9.99) At the beginning of December and the coming of the Christmas season, Eddie Gilmore had only been a couple of weeks in Ireland. He came here to work at An Síol, the L’Arche residence down in Callan…
Lift Up Their Hearts: Visiting Older People, Guidelines and Resources, by Mary Threadgold RSC (Messenger Publications, €6.95) This little booklet presents the essence of the experience of many years that Sr Mary Threadgold has worked with patients of all kinds, especially the elderly. It falls into two parts, the first dealing with the skills to…
Imogen Stuart RHA has long been a fixture of the Irish art scene, and her works can be found in so many church and religious foundations, that many people will be familiar with her skills as a wood carver without knowing they are. Last week RTÉ One broadcast a film about her created by her…
The papers and the bookshop windows are full of Christmastime promotions. Everyone is spoilt for choice. So I thought I should act like an editor and provide details of what seems to be an essential selection which all will enjoy. Dear Gay: Letters to the Gay Byrne Show, a hand written history of modern…
A Christmas Hero RTÉ Two Sunday December 17, 11.40am A guardian angel shows a disillusioned war veteran what he means to others and that his life makes a difference. Songs of Praise BBC One Sunday December 17, 1.15pm Sharing the Joys of Christmas: Rev. Kate Bottley visits County Durham to find out why one primary…
It is instructive when looking back in history to ask whose memory endures. Is it that of a distinguished writer, a captain of trade and commerce, a statesman, a warlord, a political leader? When one looks back in Dublin’s history it is clearly not one of these at all, but rather it is that of…
Last week I finished on a somewhat positive note with the release of child hostages in the Holy Land. However, the positivity was short lived – it was abhorrent to see the end of the ‘humanitarian pause’. Now it’s more like humanity itself being on pause. Once again, the news programmes last weekend featured images…
This time of the year is for booksellers at least the busiest time for children’s books. Books always make an acceptable present. But for those buying them, mostly parents and grandparents, some care has to be taken. Don’t get carried away by the title hypes in the press or prominently displayed in bookshop windows (that…
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello