On 16 October 2011 Pope Benedict XVI announced a Year of Faith. It began on 11 October 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The beginning of the Year also coincided with the Synod of Bishops held at the Vatican from 7 to 28 October 2012. The Year will end on 24 November 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King. To mark World…
In the context of religious and territorial wars of past centuries, the exploits of Irish soldiers and officers are well chronicled by military and other historians. As professional soldiers they preferred to put their swords at the disposal of different European monarchs rather than fight for the colonisers who had overrun their country. They fought for the French, Austrian, Prussian, Spanish, Italian and Russian armies and others too. Irishmen or their descendants became influential figures in many countries achieving…
