Burning the Big House: The story of the Irish country house in a time of war and revolution, by Terence Dooley (Yale University Press, £25.00/€30.00) The Anglo-Irish descendancy from the mid-19th century is the stuff of grand tragedy. Everywhere there are echoes of the elegiac. The men and women of the caste were relatively wealthy,…
The former director of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency told the Vatican court that his office’s minimal involvement in a costly property deal was at the behest of Pope Francis and several top Vatican officials. Tommaso Di Ruzza, the former director of the Vatican watchdog agency, then known as the Financial Information Authority, or AIF,…
We can learn a lot from a simple Italian friar, writes Eve Parnell There’s a painting in the National Gallery of Ireland, big, oil on canvas, 17th century, dark colours, easy to walk by and not notice, but one day a little flash caught my eye. I looked at the painting, really looked, for the…
Young Catholics from all over the country attended a youth conference that taught them to “trust God with Mary”. The day-long conference, organised by the Legion of Mary and held in St Patrick’s College, Dublin City University, Drumcondra, offered talks, adoration and conversation to Catholics from Belfast, Donegal, Dublin, Cork and more. Speaking after the…
The institution on which the family is based is in trouble and no-one cares, writes David Quinn Marriage in Ireland is changing rapidly. Fewer marry at all. We marry later. We are more likely to break up, and same-sex couples as well as opposite sex couples can legally wed. There are far more civil ceremonies…
UDR Declassified, by Micheal Smith (Merrion Press, €18.95/£14.50) The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was set up in late 1969 as the Ulster Special Constabulary (B Specials) was being disbanded as a result of its role in the sectarian violence which broke out in Derry and Belfast the previous August. Inevitably, large numbers of the B…
To Bring Comfort and Consolation: Bereavement Ministry, by Paddy Shannon SJ, foreword by Bishop Donal McKeown (Messenger Publications, €14.99/£12.95) While our daily newspapers and television bring us continual news of war and disaster, our historians reinforce this state with multitudinous echoes of past loss and the toll it took. There are days when there seems…
In the basement of a church in western Ukraine, far from the most ferocious Russian attacks, residents and displaced people contribute to the war effort by weaving camouflage nets, baking vareniki dumplings and making rosaries. “We’re not just weaving good luck charms for the guys; we are weaving the country together,” said Lyudmila, who fled…
The dioceses of Clonfert and Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora are at a “threshold moment”, Bishop Michael Duignan said as he was installed as bishop of Galway, May 1. Bishop Duignan, who will serve as bishop to both dioceses following the retirement of Bishop-emeritus Brendan Kelly, said that this is “a historic development” for the Church…
Vocational Supplement One can passionately trust that Religious Life, religious community, and the work they do, for example the Presentation Brothers, continue to fine news ways expression and relevance in our Church and world today. As Presentation Brothers, we have kept praying. inviting, promoting, and encouraging new life and vocations to our Congregation. We believe…
Ruadhán Jones
David Quinn
Peter Costello