Ricky Jay RIP
Ricky Jay, scholar of magic and mountebanks, “the greatest sleight of hand artist of his generation”, has died Here is a 1993 New Yorker profile of this extraordinary man. It…
Category: dedication
Marking the feast day of St Vincent de Paul with Willie Doyle SJ
It is the feast of St Vincent de Paul. In Ireland St Vincent De Paul is best remembered by giving his name to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which…
Extinct in Ireland, September 27th – Small mountain ringlet (Erebia epiphron)
From the Straffan Butterfly Farm page: The small mountain ringlet: A famous butterfly collector called Mr Edwin Birchall claimed to have collected a series of these butterflies halfway up Croagh…
“silence of the heart is much more important than silence of the mouth”
From Henri Nouwen’s The Way of The Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers These examples of silence in preaching, counseling, and organizing are meant to illustrate how…
Every gravestone tells a story: from Drangan, Co Tipperary
Graveyards are full of stories. Thomas Grey’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard captured this decisively in poetic form – so much so that any subsequent poem seems a pale shadow.…
from “Small, Silent, Still” – Fr Paul D Scalia
Full piece here. An interesting interview with Fr Scalia – son of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia – here We require that God be as we want Him: big,…
Learning How To See Again, Josef Pieper
LEARNING HOW TO SEE AGAIN By Josef Pieper (translated by Lothar Krauk) from Only The Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation Man’s ability to see is in decline. Those who…
Cahir’s memorial to Crimean Bob, “a veteran troophorse”
This plaque is on display in the main square of Cahir, Co Tipperary: This article outlines the story of Crimean Bob and other Irish animals of the Crimean War. A…
Séamus Sweeney 