Virtual Methodist

Last weekend there were a number of celebrations of the Easter Rising that is seen as the key moment in modern Irish republicanism. Many of these celebrations had a greater "historical re-enactment" character than in previous years (which were more overt celebrations of the more recent Republican campaign of violence) akin to the recent re-enactments associated with the celebrations of the Ulster Covenant etc. This is clearly only a dry run for a full blown re-enactment in 2 years time... By that stage, the only thing missing will be the Royal Navy lying at anchor in Dublin Bay and firing a broadside in commemoration of the flattening of central Dublin by them! Doubtless the commemorations will take place over Easter weekend in 2016, as they did this and every other year, but the actual anniversary of the beginning of the rising on Easter Monday is 24th April. 98 years ago today Patrick Pearse stood on the steps of the GPO and proclaimed ...

Hello again... I've been poorly for a couple of weeks, adding to my blogging lethargy... But tomorrow I am back on Good Morning Ulster's Thought for the Day, so I had to get the proverbial finger out... Especially in the wake of Padraig O'Tuama's superb pieces for the past few Friday mornings... (If you haven't heard them check out the last one from last Friday morning on iPlayer before it self destructs...) At one point I was considering doing something based on what follows, which first appeared as a piece on Downtown Radio in pre-blog days... But I ended up writing something else, and you'll just have to tune into Radio Ulster at Stupid o'clock tomorrow to find out what... Or wait until it is posted here later tomorrow). In the meantime here's something to think about: So... all you Mothers out there... Did you have a good day today? Breakfast in bed? Flowers? Cards? Sunday dinner out? No dishes to do? I’m telling you... you get a good deal... al...

Now, before some liturgico-ecclesiological pedant points out that strictly speaking today is not Mothers' Day, but Mothering Sunday, a celebration of mother church rather than our biological (or any other sort of) mothers, I want to say, I know. Mothers' Day is actually an American invention, but like anything that comes out of the USA, whether it be MacDonalds, Disney, Dunkin Donuts or Double Dip Recessions, it eventually makes its way across the Atlantic, and so by default Mother’s Day has replaced the older and less commercial Mothering Sunday celebration. For that the card manufacturers, florists and chocolatiers may be very grateful, but actually even the American phenomenon didn't start out as the saccharine spending spree that it has become. Apparently it grew out of Julia Ward Howe’s Mothers' Day Proclamation in 1870. Julia Ward Howe, is perhaps best known for having written the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," which inspired the Union Troop...