She was to die. The doctors had not said as much, but once the word cancer was uttered I knew it was only a matter of time. My mother took the news as she had taken all else in life: with an act of faith. She had been diagnosed just prior to Ash Wednesday; she … Read more
The first Tuesday of the first full week in May is National Teacher Day, so this seems an opportune occasion to recall a courageous, but little-known group of teachers and schoolmasters who sacrificed comfort and security for the sake of truth, goodness, and beauty in seventeenth-century Ireland. From very early days, classical education was highly … Read more
The name of Brendan Behan—rebel, hell-raiser, and writer—is rarely linked with the word “Catholic.” This is an oversight, for he was by birth and upbringing very much a Catholic writer, if that is to be judged by his culture and social background. Nevertheless, it was more than just that. Its omission, or deliberate negation, is … Read more
Why not celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day with something enlightening instead of inebriating—an Irish classic, The Aran Islands by John M. Synge? The Aran Islands, off the coast of Galway in the west of Ireland, are the cultural heart and soul of Ireland. The area is known as the Gaeltacht; translated into English it means “Irish … Read more
The fact that more than sixty percent of the Irish electorate supported an amendment to the nation’s constitution recognizing same-sex “marriage” caught many people by surprise last spring. They may have been clinging to an outdated image of Ireland as a bastion of devout Catholicism. Unfortunately there further disturbing changes that are being advanced. One … Read more
Do you remember the joke about the Irish brewery worker who drowned in a vat of suds? “Poor Sean,” the new widow said upon learning her husband’s fate, “He didn’t stand a chance.” “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Mrs. Reilly,” replies the foreman. “He did crawl out three times to use the bathroom.” The Republic of Ireland … Read more
Lester Feder is a reporter for left-wing BuzzFeed. A pretty fair reporter, Feder is nonetheless a partisan for LGBT causes; still he gives our side a fair and accurate shake. He called me recently wanting to know about American influences in the current Irish debate over faux vs. true marriage. His narrative is that Americans … Read more
On May 22 the Irish electorate will vote on a proposed amendment to the national constitution that would allow marriage to “be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.” Remarkably the proposed amendment allowing same-sex “marriage” has received the endorsement of all major Irish political parties, the governing … Read more
For the past year and a half many Irish commentators, especially those not known for friendliness toward the Catholic Church, have expressed great enthusiasm for Pope Francis. They have interpreted some of his often casual comments about not judging people, about the Church serving as a field hospital, about the need for Church leaders to … Read more
Oh! St. Patrick was a gentleman Who came of decent people; He built a church in Dublin Town, And on it put a steeple. When the world fell into darkness, the smile of God shone like twilight on Ériu’s Isle. Even as demons tramped her four green fields, those fields rested … Read more
Father Tony Flannery has written several books on religious subjects, was a columnist for the monthly journal of the Redemptorist order, and a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACP). In early 2012 the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) complained about his writings. He was instructed to undergo … Read more
Ireland is currently the victim of an astounding deceit, the Orwellian “Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill.” It passed the Irish lower house or Dáil Éireann, and now goes on to their senate, which lacks the power to reject the measure, and on for signature from the, largely honorific, president who is in any case … Read more
Among the singularities of the French monarchy was the tradition of having Scottish bodyguards. Scottish history has not been riddled with pacifism, and the Scots along with the fiery Castilians, were used as mercenaries as early as Charlemagne. An “Auld Alliance” between Scotland and France was sealed in 1295, and in the dark war days … Read more
Last Friday, March 1st, an unprecedented gathering met in Stormont in Belfast in the north of Ireland. Politicians were represented from all sides of the political divide, as they joined political figures and campaigners to make an All-Ireland call for the protection of human life. It was a vitally important show of unity, and it … Read more
Ireland is on the verge of making abortion legal in some circumstances and the fault can be laid directly on the doorstep of a tiny handful of misguided pro-lifers ten years ago. Ireland is vitally important to the international pro-life movement. Ireland remains one of the few nations in the world where abortion is illegal. … Read more
During the Dark Ages, the heritage of Western civilization would have been lost if not for heroic men and women of unconquered Ireland. Times are pretty dark right now in the West, and Ireland once again remains unfallen to anti-life barbarians. Might the Irish save civilization again? That’s no exaggeration. Planned Parenthood International has wielded … Read more
After being hit hard by the GFC and the bursting of a massive property bubble, you would think that the Irish would be pessimistic about the future. But if population trends are anything to go by, the latest census figures for the Irish republic show that the Irish are still extremely confident about the future … Read more
Fr. George Rutler of Crisis has a pithy way of saying it: “The three greatest blessings to mankind are Christianity, Penicillin, and the British Empire.” For teenage boys, who should already be well drilled in the tenets of Christianity, and might already have imbibed penicillin to deal with the odd ear infection or two, … Read more
Catholicism is in crisis all over Old Europe. Nowhere is that crisis more pronounced than in Ireland, where clerical corruption and disastrous episcopal leadership have collided with rank political expediency and a rabidly anticlerical media to produce a perfect storm of ecclesiastical meltdown. The country whose constitution begins “In the name of the Most … Read more
In mid-April, the Polish government in exile requested that the International Red Cross investigate the failure of the Soviet government to explain the fate of 8,300 Polish officers “taken prisoner” by the Red Army in the autumn of 1939. The Germans had just announced the discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. … Read more