A New Ireland: Memories and Reflections of Cardinal Cahal B. Daly edited by Gemma Loughran, foreword by Archbishop Paul Gallagher (Veritas, €12.99 / £11.50) This little book was edited by Northern Ireland barrister Gemma Loughlan, who knew Cahal Daly from her days as a student. To mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement she…
Following Gluck’s death in November 1787, Emperor Joseph II appointed Mozart as imperial and royal court composer. Among his formal duties the composer was expected to provide music for court balls and other such state occasions and, to fit the bill, Mozart supplied over 30 minuets and German dances in a relatively short time. However,…
Frank Litton War By Other Means: The Pacifists of the Greatest Generation Who Revolutionised Resistance, by Daniel Akst (Brooklyn / London: Melville House, $28.99 / £22.94 / €28.00) Paul Ricoeur, the French philosopher, observed that the state can be – has been – a source of great evil. Writing in the aftermath of…
Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker, by Aoife Brady, with essays by Babette Bohn and Jonquil O’Reilly (National Gallery of Ireland, distributed by Yale University Press, €40.00 / £35.00) Exhibition: May 6-August 27; Rooms 6-10, Beit Wing | Ticketed, check opening hours online. Lavinia Fontana (1552 – 1614) was a remarkable artist of great achievement,…
I’m uneasy about repurposed churches – sad that worship no longer goes on there, what is left being like an empty shell. If its new purpose is something artistic it takes away some of the sting. The Sea Church, with Jesus prominent in its stained-glass window, is the venue for the Ballycotton Sessions (RTÉ Two,…
In The Laureate (15A), moody British poet Robert Graves (Tom Hughes) is experiencing writer’s block brought on by shellshock after being at the front in World War I. He invites aspiring American poetess Laura Riding (Dianna Agron) to live with him and his wife Nancy (Laura Haddock), an artist, in his country cottage (called, perhaps…
Recently I came across in my files this letter which I received in February 1985 from my classmate and much-treasured friend, Fr Peter Lemass. Peter set out at the end of 1984 to join the Columban mission in Chile. Before his departure he promised his classmates to keep us informed on his experiences and the…
Earlier in the year, I mentioned 2023 being the sesquicentenary of the birth of Sergey Rakhmaninov in Semyonovo in Russia. While anniversary performances of his music take place in a number of venues, there will be a major celebration on Friday May 26 when the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus end their 2022/23 series of…
The Oldest Books in the World: Philosophy in the Age of the Pyramids, by Bill Manley (Thames and Hudson, £25.00/€29.00) How could any literate person resist the appeal of a title like this? Here for once they will find their expectations brilliantly fulfilled. This is indeed a most interesting book, but more than that it…
I often think that it should be possible for there to be authority without authoritarianism, dogma without dogmatism or pomp without pomposity. Nine News (RTÉ One, Saturday) referred to the “pomp and ceremony” at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III. It wasn’t short of either of those, but was it pompous? I’ve seen worse…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone