Courtney McGrailIn 1966, when the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, in which he had fought, was being marked, Joe McGrath, revolutionary, politician and founder of the Irish Sweep among many other businesses, died in his Co. Dublin home, Cabinteely House. His family did not want to live in the 18th Century mansion, swathed in Virginia…
Month: December 2015
Faith in the Family
Bairbre CahillSo is the New Year starting for you with a diet or, like me, are you still celebrating the Christmas season right up until January 6? (After that there will be no more mince pies and caramel squares!) I’m often struck by the sense of anti-climax people sometimes experience at this time of year. “All…
Privileged to have walked in the footsteps of Jesus
One of our Limerick readers, Susan Frawley, shares her experience of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Top books of 2015
Fr Ronald RolheiserTaste, as St Augustine said some 1700 years ago, is subjective. That should be acknowledged upfront whenever someone recommends a reading list. In my case, I need to state too that I’m not a full-time critic. It’s not like I’ve read 200 books this past year and these rose to the top. I read when…
The Paschal banquet
Cathal BarryThe Church teaches that celebration of the Eucharistic is directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ, writes Cathal Barry
Problems with an alienated dad returning to the fold
Aubrey MaloneDaddy’s Home (12A)
Music was a welcome Christmas focus
Brendan O’ReganAlthough Christmas viewing did not have an ‘overt religious element’, Brendan O’Regan describes entertainment full of ‘joy, good humour, optimism and insight’
The first witnesses of the Nativity
Peter CostelloThese days the Christmas story has become – with the star over the stable, the infant in the manger, the shepherds, the three kings and the wicked King Herod – so familiar that we rarely if ever look back to see what the Gospels actually say about the Nativity. It often surprises readers to find…
The Cities of the Magi: A Legend of Persia
Recorded by Marco Polo, circa 1272
Secrets of the powers that be… from the archives
The Vatican: Ireland’s diplomatic listening post In recent years the justification of Ireland maintaining an embassy in both the Vatican and Italy has been the subject of much controversy, with the Vatican legation being abolished and then re-established. The Government seems to have taken little cognisance of the fact that the Italian State does not…