I had assumed that former Taoiseach, John A Costello, a devout Catholic, had written the Uriah Heep-type letter of cloying humility and obsequiousness to Pope Pius XII.

NORMALLY anyone using the National Archives is looking for specific information, but when the State Papers are released to journalists each year, it is a different matter. Most do not know what they are looking for; they just plough through the files looking for anything of likely interest.

The Vatican's ambassador to Israel will attend a Holocaust memorial service at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, reversing an earlier decision to boycott the event, officials said today.

HOW did Mark Papazian go from being a quiet boy, growing up in 1950s Ireland, to a would-be serial killer on the verge of causing mayhem in London?

Beatles legend John Lennon used to steal from a Roman Catholic bookshop for thrills, a former friend has revealed.