Nick Maxwell PATRICK GLEESONFour Courts Press€45 ISBN 9781801511650 Reviewed bySimon Egan Simon Egan is a lecturer in Medieval Irish History at Queen’s University, Belfast. The study of medieval Irish kingship and society is undergoing something of a renaissance. The last few years alone have witnessed the production of some truly excellent work: Katharine Simms’s Gaelic Ulster in … Read more
By Daragh Fitzgerald We begin the new year with a new uachtarán, after Catherine Connolly’s resounding victory in October’s presidential election. While her campaign was helped by the incompetence of her opponents, you can only beat who you are up against, as Jim Gavin should know. Connolly’s independent background and vigorous campaign involving the participation … Read more
National Gallery of Ireland, Beir Wing, Rooms 6–10 Until 22 February 2026 By Donal Fallon In the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Ireland, a work by the artist Michael Farrell shows a meeting of James Joyce and Pablo Picasso at the famed Café de Flore in Paris. The idea of the two regulars … Read more
Written and directed by Annemarie Jacir By Brian Hanley It is impossible to watch this powerfully evocative film without referencing the horrors that Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people since October 2023. Annemarie Jacir’s movie ends with a dedication to ‘our people in Gaza in the years the world failed you’. Almost every scene … Read more
Netflix, autumn 2025 By Sylvie Kleinman ‘The profits flowing from New York are being used to serve God’s purpose. The secret deal which you struck with our friends [Fenians] is therefore the disreputable means to a virtuous end. In this work I am supported by the women of the Guinness Housing Trust.’ So wrote Edward … Read more