Kavanagh’s poem looks to Advent for a sort of poetic and spiritual rebirth, a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the “newness that was in every stale thing.”

“Belfast” presents itself as a family photo album: Violence may intrude, but it doesn’t crowd out the Christmas pictures.

Is Sally Rooney the millennial generation's great Catholic writer?

Even Queen Elizabeth II is expected to attend this week’s ecumenical “Service of Reflection and Hope.” So why has the president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, turned down his invitation?

Sally Rooney writes for an audience that lacks faith in an institutional church, yet yearns for something to believe in. She writes for me and my friends.

In his portrait of a once ultra-devout country undergoing rapid spiritual decline, Derek Scally paints a vivid picture of Irish indifference toward the church.