The Song of Brigid’s Cloak by Catherine Ann Cullen Illustrated by Katya Swan (Beehive, €14.99/£14.99) There has been great interest in St Brigid of late among historians and writers. Some of these have been in their way controversial; but there is nothing controversial about this little book. It is altogether delightful. Award-winning children’s poet Catherine…
With Wexford Festival Opera drawing to its close – the final performance of Dvorák’s Armida takes place next Sunday November 6 at the town’s Theatre Royal – the spotlight moves to Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre and Irish National Opera’s co-production with the Swiss Nouval Opéra Fribourg of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, which runs between November 8 and…
As many programmes were gearing up for the Halloween horrors, it was great to watch a relaxing programme that celebrated the joys of autumn and the beauty of creation in general. It was the last episode of the current series of Gardeners’ World (BBC Two, Friday) and I was a good one. Regular presenter Carol…
Ireland’s Hidden Medicine: An exploration of Irish indigenous medicine from legend and myth to the present day by Rosarie Kingston (Aeon Books, €19.99/£16.99) This book will be compelling reading for those interested in folk medicine, also known as indigenous or traditional medicine. Such ideas are an important part of our heritage, for some of these ideas…
Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (Hodder & Stoughton, €23.99/£25.00) Dr Lucy Worsley has become very much a fixture on our small screens, with a distinct penchant for dressing up in period costumes, which to some leaves an impression of history as mere fancy dress with a modern accent, rather than the…
Neil Jordan: Works for the Page, by Val Nolan Jr. (Cork University Press, €39.00 / £35.00) Neil Jordan’s career as an artist has been a curious one. He started, as so many writers do, by publishing a slim book with a short-lived and long vanished Irish publisher. But then a period of time working for…
When the inimitable Sam Goldwyn was asked once what was wrong with the American film industry he famously replied, “We need some new cliches”. Writer/director Martin McDonagh, in his ambition to be the Irish Quentin Tarantino, has spent the last number of years providing us with his version of these. He’s unpicked stage-Irishry with some…
The media’s obsession with the ‘far right’ tends to give the far left a free pass, which just might be the whole purpose. I’m three episodes into The Walk-In (UTV, Mondays), a gripping true-life drama about efforts to expose the far right group National Action in the UK. Stephen Graham plays campaigning journalist Matthew Collins,…
Turner: The Sun is God, Exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, mounted in association with the Tate Gallery London; runs to 6 February 2023; Beit Wing, Rooms 6-10; tickets €5 (entry free on Wednesdays, 9.15-11.30 am) Curated by Niamh MacNally and David Blayney Brown Many years ago the English painter John Piper remarked that…
Ireland’s Call: Navigating Brexit, by Stephen Collins (Red Stripe Press / Orpen Press, €19.99 / £19.99) This new book by the Irish Times political columnist is a splendid account of how Brexit was hatched and has become a matter of grave contention. One of the main sources for Stephen Collins’ book is the diary of…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone