The Great Irish Famine and the British Press

Frederick Lucas, founder of The Tablet

The final lecture in this year's spring series will be given by noted Irish historian Patrick Maume.  Patrick will speak about the Great Irish Famine; dealing specifically with contemporary press coverage by Catholic convert and journalist Frederick Lucas, founder of The Tablet.

Currently a researcher with the Royal Irish Academy's Dictionary of Irish Biography, Patrick Maume has published on many aspects of Irish political and literary history. His books include studies of Daniel Corkery, Margaret Cusack (the "nun of Kenmare"), and John Sarsfield Casey.  In The Long Gestation, he analyses Irish nationalist political culture in the period from  1900 to 1918. Patrick Maume has also published on media history in Ireland, including the histories of the Irish Independent  and the Dublin Evening Mail.

Patrick's current projects include research into the role of Frederick Lucas and the Tablet in Irish affairs in the 1840's and 1850's.

His lecture will take place in the library at 6.30pm on Tuesday 23rd April. 

The Church and Science: Conflict or Complexity?

Dr. Don O'Leary

The next lecture in our Spring series will take place in the library at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 9th April.

Our speaker will be Dr. Don O'Leary, and his topic will be the relationship between  Roman Catholicism and the world of science. Are these two worlds necessarily in conflict, or is their relationship better understood as one of rich complexity?

Dr. O'Leary is a Senior Technical Officer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at University College Cork. He has extensive experience in biomedical research using transmission electron microscopy. He is a historian and the author of a number of books, including Roman Catholicism and Modern Science : a history (New York and London: Continuum, 2006) and Irish Catholicism and Science: from "Godless Colleges" to the "Celtic Tiger" (Cork: Cork University Press, 2012).

Easter 2013: library arrangements

The Central Catholic Library will close for Easter at 6pm on Tuesday 26th March.

The Library will re-open at 11am on Tuesday 2nd April.

Happy Easter to all our members, visitors and friends!

An Expert Look at the Church Fathers

St Augustine of Hippo at his desk

The second lecture in our spring series, coinciding with the Year of Faith, will focus on the pivotal place of the Fathers of the Church in helping to form and articulate the faith of the early Church.

The lecture takes place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 19th March in the library.

Our speaker, Finbarr Clancy S.J., emphasizes that, in a time where we are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, we do well to remember Pope John XXIII's advocacy of returning to the sources of Christian tradition, as well as reading the signs of the times in the light of the gospel. The Fathers have always been a fertile source of inspiration for all that is best in theology and the life of the Church.

Fr Clancy is currently Professor of Theology at the Milltown Institute in Dublin, where he also serves as Rector of the Ecclesiastical Faculty and Acting President. He has also lectured on Patristics in St Patrick's College, Maynooth. He acts as Chairperson of the Patristric Symposium, an interdisciplinary group of scholars who meet regularly to discuss the Church Fathers and organise seminars and conferences on Patristic studies.

Fr Clancy has published widely on Patristic topics. He devoted two studies to the Church Fathers on the Eucharist in connection with last year's International Eucharistic Congress, held in Dublin. He is particularly interested in the Latin Fathers such as Cyprian, Augustine and Ambrose, and in the liturgical poetry of St Ephrem the Syrian. He lectures in Patristics, sacramental theology and systematic theology, and maintains a keen interest in ecumenical dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

In tandem with the lecture, our honorary librarian Peter Costello has organised an exhibition presenting the work of the Church Fathers in word and image.  The exhibition can be viewed during library opening hours: 11am-6pm (Monday to Friday) and 11am-5.30pm (Saturday).

For those interested in exploring the thought of the  Fathers, the library holds a rich collection of Patrisitic writings,  including the ongoing series of new English translations published by the Catholic University of America Press.

Saint Patrick's Day 2013

 As Saint Patrick's Day falls on Sunday this year, and Monday will be a bank holiday, the library will be closed from 6pm on Friday 15th March,  re-opening after the weekend at 11am on Tuesday 19th March.

Enjoy the Feast Day, and the weekend!

Buongiorno Papa Francesco!

Yesterday, with white smoke after five votes, Argentine Jesuit Jorge Maria Bergoglio was proclaimed Pope Francis 1, to a vast crowd in St Peter's Square and to the world.

In his first apostolic blessing, Pope Francis noted that it had been the duty of the Conclave to give Rome a Bishop, and ironically they had gone to the ends of the earth to get one!

After offering a prayer for Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI, Pope Francis continued: " And now, we take up this journey : Bishop and People... A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity. It is my hope for you that this journey of the Church, which we start today...will be fruitful for the evangelization of this most beautiful city."

Before giving his blessing, Pope asked a favour of the assembled audience, saying "And now I would like to give the blessing, but first, first, I ask a favour of you : before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop."

Pope Francis then gave his own blessing to all those in St Peter's Square, and to the world.

The 1913 Strike and Lockout

The first lecture in our spring series will explore the traumatic events of 1913 from the perspective of Dublin's Catholic archbishop, clergy and religious. 

Our speaker, Thomas Morrissey S.J., was formerly director of Dublin's National College of Industrial Relations. He has published over thirteen works relating to church and social history. 

His books include biographies of Archbishop William Walsh, the trades unionist William O'Brien and the journalist and politician William Martin Murphy; three figures active in Dublin during the 1913 strike. 

Fr Morrissey's lecture takes place at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 12th March.