Relics of St Brigid are to return to her native Co. Kildare for the first time in centuries to mark the 1,500th anniversary of her death. The relics will return to Kildare on Sunday, January 28, starting with a procession from the Solas Bhride Centre run by the Brigidine Sisters to St Brigid’s Parish Church…
Thomas O’Loughlin Gerald O’Donovan: A Life. 1871-1942, by John F. Ryan (Liverpool University Press, £95.00) This book is, to my knowledge, the first full length biography of that most complex character of the late-19th and early 20th Century, Gerald O’Donovan, who is now best remembered for his first novel: Father Ralph, published in April 1913,…
Mary E. Fitzgibbon Last week there was considerable dismay over the proposal to change the name Páirc Uí Chaoimh to Supervalu Park. The Tánaiste rowed into the controversy posting on X: “deeply disappointed and annoyed at the proposal to change the name of Páirc Uí Chaoimh given that Pádraig Uí Chaoimh was a key figure…
“Human rights concerns” were on the agenda during An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Chinese Premier, Li Qiang, this week according to the Department of the Taoiseach. Mr Li, China’s second most powerful man, made a two-day state visit to Ireland this week, during which time he met separately with Mr Varadkar at Farmleigh House…
Independent Senator Ronan Mullen launched a stinging criticism of the Government’s proposals to remove the terms ‘women’ and ‘mother’ from the constitution, suggesting that Government is deviating from its official programme and being guided by specific ideologies instead. “The Government now wants to remove mention of ‘woman’, ‘mother’ and ‘home’ from the Constitution,” he said.…
Three quarters of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland are not registering at the point of arrival into the country, figures released by the Government show. Of the almost 9,000 migrants seeking international protection who arrived in Ireland in 2023, just 2,056 registered at airports and ports, figures released to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín revealed. The…
RTÉ documentary fails to ask the big questions about the priesthood, writes David Quinn You could tell Ardal O’Hanlon was pulling his punches in his documentary about the huge decline in vocations that was aired by RTÉ on Monday night, but you could also tell he won’t regret it when there are very few clergy…
The Church in Ireland needs a whole “mindset shift” over lay ministry, as dioceses and parishes seek to embed a synodal approach to local leadership, a leading theologian has said. Irish dioceses have a “brilliant opportunity” to initiate a more “inclusive” model of leadership, according to the Dean of Theology at St Patrick’s Pontifical University,…
A Nation is Born: Ireland in Colour 1923-1938, edited by Michael B. Barry and John O’Byrne (Gill books, €26.99 / £25.99) The title of this book is a complete misnomer. But then that is the sort of thing that happens when a complex subject is popularised for Christmastime consumption. Ireland in 1923 did not see…
Ireland gave a warm welcome to China’s second-in-command this week, Premier Li-Qiang, in what was the first visit of a high-ranking Chinese official since Mr Li’s predecessor, Li-Keqiang’s 2015 visit. It isn’t a stretch to say that on this occasion, the red-carpet was rolled out ahead of Mr Li’s visit, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying…
Ruadhán Jones
Brandon Scott
David Quinn
Peter Costello