The Norwegians and Dublin’s Christ Church When we Irish set off on a holiday, or related pilgrimage (to repeat myself slightly from the other week), we inevitably turn south. Because of this we often miss many interesting things. It seems our chilled Hyperborean hearts need a large supply of those “beaded bubbles winking at the…
Imagine if members of a football club campaigned for the ball to be oval, with 15 a side. It would be fair to say they were really rugby fans and were in the wrong club. So said Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, Wednesday) in his introduction to a piece on the synthesis report…
As the saying goes tempus fugit and I am remembering the initial Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition (VDISC) held in 1995 with soprano Orla Boylan its first prizewinner. Ms Boylan still retains the distinction of being the only Irish singer to have been awarded the competition’s premier prize. Competition But, as often happens, competition losers…
Prayer: Our Dialogue with God by Pat Collins CM, preface by Cardinal Seán Brady (New Life Publications, €18.00) Fr Pat Collins has been popular with many people for many years. This book is an epitome of the qualities that they go to his books to find. He sets out in his new book, which contains…
Irish people desire most, it seems, to fly over Britain to reach Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje. While well understanding their motives, I feel that by this choice they miss many interesting experiences, and narrowly restrict their contacts with places of faith over the past two millenniums, engaging places which in many ways have perhaps done…
How does one wade into the transgender debate? Or even dip toes in the water without getting them bitten off? A few preliminary questions I struggle with – how is it that when certain activists disagree with you they immediately accuse you of having a phobia? No, it’s just a contrary opinion! How come when…
“Jesus forgave those who crucified him.” This is the mantra underlying Francois Ozon’s achingly beautiful Frantz (Alibris). Shot partly in monochrome and partly in colour, it has an air of elegant leisureliness. It tells the story of a Parisian soldier from World War I (Pierre Niney) who’s consumed with guilt after shooting a German in…
Thomas Meagher: Forgotten Father of Thomas Francis Meagher by Eugene Broderick (Irish Academic Press, €29.95/£27.99) Thomas Meagher was described by Daniel O’Connell as “one of the best men that ever lived”. Yet he is only generally remembered as the father of Thomas Francis Meagher, the Young Irelander and later a Brigadier General in the US…
With things getting back to normal these days, summer provides enough fine days for us all to make some visits to often overlooked places of faith, as well as a few famous ones. Over the next few weeks some of these will be described here, with their appropriate literary associations. Croagh Patrick I am writing…
“A masterly and nuanced portrayal of hopeless love”, that’s how Irish National Opera describes Jules Massenet’s Werther, which the company will take on a nationwide tour during April and May 2023. But why am I mentioning Werther so far in advance? Well, Lyric Opera presents a fully staged single performance of the piece at the…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone