Reviews – Dominican Friars Ireland

Book Review: Faith, Reason and the Existence of God

Archivist Author — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 10:55:41 +0000

Vatican I decreed it to be a matter of faith that “God, the source and end of all things, can be known with certainty from the consideration of created things, by the natural power of human reason.” Denys Turner, in this very rich treatment of the issue of proving the existence of God takes this […]

Book Review: Aquinas (A Beginner’s Guide)

Archivist Author — Tue, 13 May 2014 10:28:49 +0000

Edward Feser has established himself in recent times as a force to be reckoned with in philosophical circles. His most recent book is Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction. He is also the author of The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism as well as of books on Locke and on philosophy of mind. […]

Online Video Review: Reason for the Season – the Easter Triduum

Archivist Author — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 09:00:07 +0000

A well-known chocolate company is currently running an advertising campaign for bunny-shaped treats with the tagline, ‘Why wait until Easter?’ I imagine the concept of ‘Lent’ isn’t a popular one among chocolate manufacturers, but it says a lot that they could ask this rhetorical question as if there were no obvious answer. Just as Christmas […]

Online Video Review: Caoineadh na dTrí Mhuire

Archivist Author — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 18:40:17 +0000

Laetare Sunday is now behind us and we are in final stretch towards Holy Week. I don’t know about you, but I always find the emotion of Holy Week quite hard to take. Perhaps it has a greater intensity in a religious community, when the whole community experiences disorientation together: familiar timetables are altered, familiar […]

Online Video Review: Dear Future Mum

Archivist Author — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 11:29:32 +0000

In ancient Sparta, being born did not necessarily mean that a child would be cherished. The Spartan elders could decide, if they thought the child was weak or deformed in any way, to have the child exposed to the elements, cut off from the support of the community and left to die. This practice of […]

Online Video Review: #IrelandInspires

Archivist Author — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 09:47:28 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmIZEl1nSo The video above, produced by Fáilte Ireland (the Irish tourist board) has been doing the rounds recently. It was produced in honour of St Patrick’s Day, and its central message is, ‘Ireland Inspires’. It celebrates the achievements of this little island in a way that blends the old (literature, landscape) and the new (science and […]

Movie Review: The Lego Movie

Archivist Author — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:52:47 +0000

One should probably begin a discussion about The LEGO Movie by quickly getting the obvious out of the way: It’s awesome. The whole thing is awesome… Except maybe the head-wreckingly catchy theme tune; which I very reluctantly thought was awesome too. But only because it has permanently taken up residence in my head, overwriting the […]

Book Review: The Scent of Lemons

Archivist Author — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 09:10:09 +0000

In the last 20 years or so, the revolution in communications technology has radically changed the lives of billions of ordinary people. In many ways, this technology has made our lives easier: communication is speedier, and access to information, entertainment, and services is easier and more democratic. We talk a lot about progress and achievement […]

Movie Review: Argo

Archivist Author — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 11:26:36 +0000

It’s 1979 Tehran, riots have exploded and radical student Islamists are laying siege of the U.S. embassy, taking 58 employees hostage. Out of the chaos, six employees escape. Enclosed in fear and anxiety, trapped with little hope and ensconced from the enemy in the Canadian ambassador’s house they wait for a saviour. Meanwhile in Washington […]

Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave

Archivist Author — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:06:10 +0000

In 1841, Solomon Northup is a ‘free negro’ working as a skilled carpenter and fiddle player, and living with his wife and two children in Washington. Two men offer him a two-week job as a musician, but they drug Northup and he wakes up in chains, about to be sold into slavery. He is shipped […]