Recent conflicts in Gaza and Palestine have caused many people to reflect anew on the holocaust of World War II. In such circumstances, it might be timely to re-view the 1959 film Conspiracy of Hearts. Featuring Lilli Palmer as the Mother Superior of an Italian convent, this is a moving work dealing with the efforts…
Seán Lemass, The Lost Memoir: The autobiography of Ireland’s most admired Taoiseach, edited by Ronan McGreevy (Eriu / Bonnier, £22.00 / £20.00) The title of this book is misleading. It is neither a memoir nor an autobiography of Seán Lemass, but rather the edited transcripts of taped interviews that Lemass gave to businessman Dermot…
William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, by Alice Insley, Anne Hodge and Christina Morin (National Gallery of Ireland / Tate Gallery, €40.00 / £35.00) Exhibition organised by NGI in collaboration with the Tate Gallery, London, curated by Alice Insley and Anne Hodge. Runs to July 19, 2026; Rooms 6-10. Tickets online from €0 – €16. …
Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England, by Joanne Paul (Penguin Books, £12.99 / Michael Joseph €32.00 hb) Thomas More has been a figure of such controversy as to make even the opening sentence of this review seem problematic: should he be entitled as St Thomas or Sir Thomas? In following the author of…
Jiving With Wasps: New and Selected Poems, by Rita Ann Higgins (Bloodaxe Books, €16.95 / £9.95) Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people”, the poet Adrian Mitchell famously pronounced. Rita Ann Higgins doesn’t fall into that category. As readable and accessible a poet as the late Paul Durcan, she could fairly…
The religious output of mainstream media channels is patchy – no specifically religious programmes at all in some cases, with significant input in others. BBC continues to impress with its commitment to their long-running pilgrimage-themed series. The latest version came to an end last week. Pilgrimage: The Road to Holy Island (BBC Two, Tuesday, with…
After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan’s Memory Palace, by Robert Polito (W.W. Norton, £15.00 / €29.99) Bob Dylan has reinvented himself more often than any artist inside or outside music. Morphing from the folk-rock avatar of the sixties counterculture to a born-again Christian in the late seventies, he went from singing anti-religious anthems like ‘With…
Holy Week tends to get the mainstream broadcasters to turn their minds to matters religious, with some excellent results this year. Oliver Callan (RTÉ Radio 1, Wednesday) had entertainment journalist Olivia Fahy discussing how Christ has been depicted in film. It was respectful, but chirpy, with lots of laughter, which didn’t quite suit the topic.…
Many musical personages told lies at the beginning of their careers. Bob Dylan would have had people believe he jumped trains with Woody Guthrie. Nadine Coyle used “creative mathematics” about her age to get onto a pop show when she was 16. Louis Walsh made up stories every other day to propel Boyzone into the…
The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, by Fergal Keane (William Collins, £10.99) Fergal Keane was born in London on January 6, 1961. His father, Eamon, was a professional actor, and his mother also “trod the boards”. He is a nephew of John B. Keane, the playwright. In his…
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan