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Book review: Witty, robust defence of the power of sentimentality to effect change
Book review: Witty, robust defence of the power of sentimentality to effect change
The central thesis of Ferdinand Mount's 'Soft' is compelling: Sentimentality is a form of mass soft power that steers us towards a better, more humane world

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025

Book review: Get clued up on Irish slang
Book review: Get clued up on Irish slang
Colm O’Regan’s entertaining account of the Irish version of the English language is an etymologist’s delight, being nicely scholarly, but it wears its learning lightly, which means it’s accessible to all of us

Sat, 15 Nov, 2025

Missing person Tina Satchwell case
Book review: Rushed mess that badly needed an edit
That the nuts and bolts of story are revealed in the eight-page prologue almost makes wading through the subsequent 355 pages unnecessary

Sat, 08 Nov, 2025

Book review: No need to shop around for this story of Dunnes’ burgeoning retail empire
Book review: No need to shop around for this story of Dunnes’ burgeoning retail empire
From the 1960s, Dunnes Stores, or family members, have been embroiled in some of the most infamous disputes and scandals

Sat, 08 Nov, 2025

FILE PICS: Former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald is understood to be seriously ill in hospital.
Book review: Class, corruption, and rivalry at the birth of modern Ireland
Eoin O’Malley’s thesis is that the rivalry between these two individuals shaped the Ireland that was to evolve after they had both departed the frontline

Fri, 07 Nov, 2025

Zadie Smith Receives WELT-Literaturpreis 2016 In Berlin
Book review: Incisive Smith offers insights on creativity in random collection
Through 'Dead and Alive', Smith retains her crown as one of the sharpest, sanest, perceptively unpretentious minds of our generation

Sat, 01 Nov, 2025

Book review: Witty, wry, yet poignant and thought-provoking
Book review: Witty, wry, yet poignant and thought-provoking
This is a self-deprecating, insightful and humorous collection of stories where it feels like journalist Carl Kinsella is trying to understand the world, and himself

Sat, 01 Nov, 2025

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Fulham v Reading - Craven Cottage
Book review: Cameras, microphones, and money used to isolate Al-Fayed’s victims
The Monster of Harrods: Al-Fayed and the secret, shameful history of a British institution

Fri, 31 Oct, 2025

Prince
Book review: Extensive portrait of a Prince of music invites questions
Prince bestrode popular culture during the late 20th century and his legacy extends far beyond his considerable mainstream commercial success.

Fri, 31 Oct, 2025

Book review: How the housing crisis has created Ireland’s unique bailout babies
Book review: How the housing crisis has created Ireland’s unique bailout babies
The bailout babies were born in Ireland between 1990 and 2007. Those born in 2007 are 'officially the last cubs of the Celtic Tiger'

Sat, 25 Oct, 2025

Priscilla Presley In Conversation "Softly, As I Leave You"
Book review: Reflection of a ‘Burning Love’
In this candid memoir Priscilla Presley comes across as a kind, compassionate woman, who is forgiving towards those who hurt her

Sat, 25 Oct, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Educator, writer, and language activist Mollie Guidera
Beginner’s pluck: Educator, writer, and language activist Mollie Guidera
'The Gaeilge Guide' explains Irish in a fun, joyful way. Mollie interlaces stories and her own biography with useful words and phrases

Sat, 25 Oct, 2025

Book review: Finger on the pulsing beats
Book review: Finger on the pulsing beats
Liam Cagney mixes interviews with DJs and club owners, past and present, as he charts the evolution of Berlin’s club scene

Sat, 18 Oct, 2025

Book review: A brave dissection of terror
Book review: A brave dissection of terror
'An Accidental Villain' is a questionable title as Hugh Tudor’s racism, ruthlessness, and duplicity suggests there was nothing accidental about his terror career in Ireland

Sat, 18 Oct, 2025

"The Happy Prince" Premiere At UGC Cine Cite Les Halles In Paris
Book review: Revealing dive into the ripple effects of Wilde’s scandal
Over time,  the accumulation of myths, half-truths, gossip, and in much more serious instances, egregious misrepresentations and downright lies, have continued to distort the facts about Oscar Wilde

Fri, 17 Oct, 2025

Mark Ronson
Book review: A love letter to more humble beginnings
Mark Ronson's 'Night People' is about chasing the highs of a great mix while documenting a city that no longer exists

Sat, 11 Oct, 2025

Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic 1923
Book review: A lesson still not learned
Why do we ignore warnings drawn from the actuality of our world and rush headlong towards catastrophe time after time?

Sat, 11 Oct, 2025

Book review: O’Connor finds quiet certainty to carry on after Parkinson’s diagnosis
Book review: O’Connor finds quiet certainty to carry on after Parkinson’s diagnosis
Annmarie O’Connor’s 'Twitch' is a must-read for anyone affected by Parkinson’s

Sat, 11 Oct, 2025

Book review: A true story of courage and betrayal of those who fought Hitler’s villainy
Book review: A true story of courage and betrayal of those who fought Hitler’s villainy
Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning columnist with The Guardian, has given the world a timely notice of the consequences of totalitarianism and tyranny in 'The Traitors Circle'

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

France Protests
Book review: A glimpse into far-right ideologies
The far right is a mainstream and respectable movement in French politics. It was in the 1860s, the 1930s, and the 1950s – it is again now

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

Book extract: A British officer killed and an Irish city destroyed in a act of vengeance
Book extract: A British officer killed and an Irish city destroyed in a act of vengeance
Hugh Tudor was appointed by Churchill to lead the Royal Irish Constabulary, including the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries, but he met civil strife and rebellion with indiscriminate state-sanctioned murder, changing the course of Irish history

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Book extract: Revelling in the marvels and secrets of Ireland’s creatures
Book extract: Revelling in the marvels and secrets of Ireland’s creatures
Anja Murray has been writing 'Nature File' for RTÉ Lyric FM since 2017 and wants readers to indulge their own biophilia with this selection

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Book review: No ignoring of the questions raised
Book review: No ignoring of the questions raised
'Living with Men' may be the kind of book about which one never reaches a settled view, simply because the subject matter itself will never fully settle in the mind

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Book review: Varadkar’s overview of his time in politics carefully avoids his failings
Book review: Varadkar’s overview of his time in politics carefully avoids his failings
'Speaking My Mind' is a fluid account of Leo Varadkar's life and work and it is an engaging read that touches on politics and public life

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Lee Harvey Oswald Auction
Book review: Grievances undiminished by time
The house select committee on assassinations found that, although Lee Harvey Oswald fired the deadly shots, he was not the only gunman

Sat, 20 Sep, 2025

Book review: Greed and duplicity pollutes our politics and environment
Book review: Greed and duplicity pollutes our politics and environment
The Irish farm and food lobby enjoys an incredible, anti-democratic influence, that has had a disastrous and escalating impact on our countryside, our waterways, and our mountains

Fri, 19 Sep, 2025

Book review: A leader we could do with now
Book review: A leader we could do with now
This frighteningly perceptive and well-written biography of UN secretary general, Burmese Buddhist U Thant, details his efforts at resolving one 1960s crisis after another

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025

Book review: A raw, harrowing personal account of Ireland’s true Oscar-winning artist
Book review: A raw, harrowing personal account of Ireland’s true Oscar-winning artist
Her middle-class upbringing may have afforded actor Brenda Fricker early opportunities, but the family dynamic was turbulent

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025

Book review: Surviving a massacre, and the lasting emotional toll it takes
Book review: Surviving a massacre, and the lasting emotional toll it takes
Tipperary-born musician Stephen Travers was a member of the Miami Showband and had witnessed the brutal murders of three of his bandmates by the UVF in Co Down in 1975

Fri, 12 Sep, 2025

David Trimble death
Book review: The arc of change — from firebrand unionist to unlikely peacemaker
Stephen Walker’s fine biography will ensure David Trimble will be long remembered as a flawed man who made an enduring impact on the lives of many in bringing peace to Northern Ireland

Fri, 05 Sep, 2025

Book review: Utopian resolve in the face of Tudor tyranny
Book review: Utopian resolve in the face of Tudor tyranny
Joanne Paul’s biography of Thomas More is a meticulous account of a clever late-medieval Londoner and a tale of social mobility too

Mon, 18 Aug, 2025

Understanding the ‘extreme centre’ of Syria after Assad
Understanding the ‘extreme centre’ of Syria after Assad
The 14 years under Assad’s authoritarian leadership has been brutal but now Syria is facing many other challenges, including a recent surge of sectarian violence

Mon, 18 Aug, 2025

Book review: The Cork brothers at the birth of Irish cinema
Book review: The Cork brothers at the birth of Irish cinema
The Horgan brothers from Youghal, Co Cork, were among the earliest adaptors of the Lumière’s cinema ideas. Their eight decades of work has been detailed by Darina Clancy

Sat, 09 Aug, 2025

Demonstrators Holding Portraits of Khomeini
Book review: Downfall of last shah of Iran
One of the often-universal themes in this wonderful book is how autocracies that outstay their welcome are often replaced by usurpers far worse than they were

Sat, 02 Aug, 2025

Book review: Little glamour, lots of graft: A look at every aspect of political life in Ireland
Book review: Little glamour, lots of graft: A look at every aspect of political life in Ireland
'The Secret Life of Leinster House' gives the common citizen a clearer understanding of the good, and the not so good, of our law makers

Sat, 19 Jul, 2025

Book review: The short but extraordinary life of the Border Commission
Book review: The short but extraordinary life of the Border Commission
What 'The Root of All Evil' clearly shows is neither Sinn Féin nor the subsequent Free State government had a coherent plan on how to deal with the Ulster Unionists

Sat, 12 Jul, 2025

Mary MacSwiney
Book extract: Woman who refused to be silenced in fight for republican independence
Betrayal of the republic, for Mary MacSwiney, would have meant betrayal of a brother she loved and admired, and it would have been almost impossible for her to think and feel in any other way

Fri, 11 Jul, 2025

Russia Belarus
Book review: Fresh, relevant, and concise
Donnacha Ó Beacháin’s central concern is Russian imperialism and — similar to other empires — the damage it causes to those at the receiving end

Sat, 05 Jul, 2025

Book review: Memoir rich in literary allusion, social mobility, and so much more
Book review: Memoir rich in literary allusion, social mobility, and so much more
'Homework' is an account of Geoff Dyer’s upbringing in Cheltenham in the 1960s and ‘70s, a world he evokes in gloriously minute, Proustian detail

Sat, 05 Jul, 2025

Book review: Horrific figures of history who refused to accept their crimes
Book review: Horrific figures of history who refused to accept their crimes
The failure to accept guilt for war crimes and crimes against humanity has been a recurring theme in the work of the human rights lawyer Philippe Sands

Fri, 27 Jun, 2025

Book review: A fresh perspective on reflection
Book review: A fresh perspective on reflection
Theo Dorgan's novel is an intelligent book but not too high flown; it’s an easy read that flows, revealing a character who, despite his once-off crime, is one of the good guys

Sat, 21 Jun, 2025

Book review: From podcast to page... unmasking the real story of Northern Bank heist
Book review: From podcast to page... unmasking the real story of Northern Bank heist
On December 20, 2004, one paramilitary group — most likely the IRA — robbed the Northern Bank in Belfast stealing £26.5m

Sat, 14 Jun, 2025

Announcement of a Two Test International Boxing Series between Ireland and France
Book review: Unravelling every wrongdoing
Journalist, media entrepreneur, and migration activist Fintan Drury has handled the almost impossible task of framing the unframeable in his latest book, 'Catastrophe: Nakba II'

Sat, 07 Jun, 2025

Book review: Oona Frawley brings readers on a raw exploration of the past
Book review: Oona Frawley brings readers on a raw exploration of the past
As both her parents are now dead, Frawley feels able to tackle the thorny subject of her father’s alcoholism, his struggles as an actor, and her mother’s reasons for enduring dysfunction for so long

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: IWU members' essays offer first-hand accounts of life after the Contraception Train
Book review: IWU members' essays offer first-hand accounts of life after the Contraception Train
Irishwomen United (IWU) member Evelyn Conlon and academic Rebecca Phelan cement the movement in Irish history

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: Memoirs of Ireland’s wars told from an extraordinary ordinary soldier
Book review: Memoirs of Ireland’s wars told from an extraordinary ordinary soldier
Owen O’Shea is no stranger to the War of Independence and Civil War in Kerry. 'One Man’s Ireland' is his third book on this theme

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

UK - 2007 Edinburgh International Book Festival
Book review: Biography of a biography is an onerous read
An author using an introduction to try to justify a book’s very existence is an uninspiring start to proceedings, writes Sean Kelly  

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: Reinterpreting the Irish Famine as a consequence of unbridled capitalism
Book review: Reinterpreting the Irish Famine as a consequence of unbridled capitalism
The central contention in 'Rot' is that Westminster’s response to the starvation was defined by its overarching commitment to the principles of the free market

Sat, 24 May, 2025

Book review: Down and out in Donegal and New York — a forgotten victim of greed
Book review: Down and out in Donegal and New York — a forgotten victim of greed
'The Many Murders of Michael Malloy' was first published in the USA over 20 years ago. It has all the ingredients of a black comedy, except for the fact that it is a true story

Sat, 17 May, 2025

General O'Duffy
Book review: A useful lesson from our past
The core message of this valuable book is that a party founded by some truly odious bigots — Fine Gael — has evolved into a modernish, socially liberal force

Sat, 17 May, 2025

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