In the School of Saint Benedict: Benedictine Spirituality for Every Christian by Dom Xavier Perrin OSB (Gracewing, €11.99/£9.99) The author of this little book is currently the superior of Quarr Abbey, beautifully situated overlooking the sea on the Isle of Wight. This was where the Benedictines of Solesmes in Sarthe in the Pays de Loire…
Orpen at War: a novel by Patricia O’Reilly (The Liffey Press, €22.95/£19.95) This is an illustrated biographical novel featuring dozens of Sir William Orpen’s paintings and drawings largely of the Western front in the Great War, in which he was engaged as an official war artist. Orpen, even then recognised as one of Ireland’s most…
“Your Word is a Lamp on my Path”: Reflections on the weekday readings for the liturgical year 2022-2023 by Martin Hogan (Messenger Publications, €19.95/£18.95) Martin Hogan is the curate at Finglas, Finglas West and Rivermount. Readers can imagine just how busy he must be in his pastoral work. The service to the city comes after…
The weight of tragedy was particularly heavy last week. Nine News (RTÉ One, Friday) led with the explosion at the filling station in Creeslough, Co. Donegal, and such a cloud hung over this small community. At that stage the enormity of the disaster was just filtering through, and though there were no casualty figures the…
The Horse of Selene by Juanita Casey, with an afterword by Mary M. Burke (Tramp Press, €16.00/£12.99) We are so flooded these days with works of modern genius, that all too many books once admired, or widely read, or necessary in some way, are driven down into forgetfulness. These books from the past are the…
We’re in America. A singer stands before an audience. She looks like an extra-terrestrial with her shaven head. People start to cheer. Then they boo. She recently refused to sing at a venue if the American National Anthem was played. She’s also torn up a photograph of the Pope on live TV. The camera flashes…
The Way We Were: Catholic Ireland Since 1922 by Mary Kenny (Columba Books, €19.99/£17.99) Mary Kenny’s new book is of great importance, and in its arrangement will enlighten many about what has become a controversial aspect of our recent past. The first section deals with the course of Irish history, basically since the founding of…
I love a drama series that’s unpredictable, steers clear of stereotypes and has a sharp script, a touch or more of humour and fluid acting. Inside Man on BBC One, Mondays and Tuesdays, fits the bill with delights to spare. Its black humour reminds me of Coen Brothers material, especially the Fargo film and series.…
Rainbows and Windmills by Peter Tarleton Stewart (Columba Books, €14.99/£13.99) Peter Tarleton Stewart retired two years ago after 46 years as an active Anglican pastor and parish priest. From those long years of widely spread and varied experience not only among his parishioners, but also with students, the sick and imprisoned, he has seen many…
Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-François Champollion by Andrew Robinson (Thames and Hudson, €14.99/£12.99) People often remark carelessly on what the sacred writings of the Bible and the New Testament “say”. They give little thought, as often as not, to the astonishing ability of being able to read a text in translation…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone