The history of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” is a colorful one—though shorter than you think.
Ireland
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The author you probably never thought of as Irish: John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature, had many fans—and a few detractors—among reviewers in America over the years.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
After Russian ships menaced off its shores, Ireland wonders if it should beef up its military spending
Few expected that the waters off Ireland’s southwestern coast would become a potential front in a confrontation with the Russian Federation. But that is exactly what happened at the end of January.
Posted inArts & Culture, Interviews
The Bob Dylan Bible: In ‘Girl From the North Country,’ an Irish playwright takes inspiration from the prophet of folk
“Bob Dylan is in the tradition of great writers stretching back to the biblical prophets—there’s something in his songs that is so resonant that people will be trying to figure the songs out for generations.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
Patrick Kavanagh is the Catholic poet we should be reading this Advent
Kavanagh’s poem looks to Advent for a sort of poetic and spiritual rebirth, a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the “newness that was in every stale thing.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
Review: ‘Belfast,’ a memoir of Protestant boyhood in Troubles-torn Northern Ireland, gives a child’s-eye view of Catholicism
“Belfast” presents itself as a family photo album: Violence may intrude, but it doesn’t crowd out the Christmas pictures.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Sally Rooney isn’t just the ‘Snapchat Generation’s’ Catholic novelist (but she is that).
Is Sally Rooney the millennial generation’s great Catholic writer?
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The president of Ireland won’t attend a service marking 100 years of partition. Why not?
Even Queen Elizabeth II is expected to attend this week’s ecumenical “Service of Reflection and Hope.” So why has the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, turned down his invitation?
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Sally Rooney writes for millennials in a post-Catholic world
Sally Rooney writes for an audience that lacks faith in an institutional church, yet yearns for something to believe in. She writes for me and my friends.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Has the Catholic Church in Ireland learned anything from the testimonies of abuse survivors?
In his portrait of a once ultra-devout country undergoing rapid spiritual decline, Derek Scally paints a vivid picture of Irish indifference toward the church.