History of Restaurant Reviews

This week, the New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton hung up his napkin and filed his last restaurant column for the paper. It follows the publication of the latest Michelin guide to Britain and Ireland - and predictions that the host of food bloggers and amateur critics online will mean the end of the restaurant critic.
But where did it all begin in the first place?

The Irish Times restaurant critic Catherine Cleary talked about the history of restaurant reviews.

Cardinal Paul Cullen

From the mid-19th century, the influence of Cardinal Paul Cullen (1803-78) was ubiquitous within Irish society and the English speaking world. Contemporaries spoke of the Culllenization of Irish Society; a Times obituary celebrated him as “an agent of great change” , while a critical James Joyce lampooned the cardinal as the “apple of God’s eye”. Catholic commentators have celebrated him in the reforming tradition of Charles Borromeo, while critics have castigated him as Ireland’s Savonarola or John Calvin. In Roy Foster’s estimation, Cullen “exemplified the new face of the Catholic Church”, if not the Irish nation itself; yet much of the analysis of the cardinal’s career is focused narrowly on the themes of politics and ecclesiastical revival.

Daire Keogh, lecturer in St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra and Professor of History Gearoid O Tuathaigh joined Diarmaid to assess the cardinal’s legacy.

Cardinal Paul Cullen and his World is edited by Daire Keogh and Albert McDonnell (Four Courts Press)

The Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara is one of our most important historic sites – yet a recent Ecclesiastical National Heritage survey revealed that many people were embarrassed to admit they’d never actually visited the place.
Mary Mulvihill joined Diarmaid to make a case for visiting the Hill of Tara.

Mary has made an audio guide to the Hill to bring the place alive for people. You can download it from her website for 2.99 euro. ingeniousireland.ie

If you don't have an MP3 player, you can also buy a boxed version of the audio guide with all you need, at Tara giftshop for €9.99.

Tara would make a great Hallowe'en or half-term family outing The family pack download comes with 8 pages of things to do. Mary Mulvihill recommends allowing at least a half day to explore Tara and around.

Advance Notice:

November Book Club - Against the Tide by Noel Browne

Our November Book Club choice is Against The Tide by Noel Browne which caused a huge stir when it was published 25 years ago. It was the first serious Irish political autobiography; bitchy, invective and controversial - and at the heart of it all, a great personal story and voyage. So get reading!!

We'll be discussing this book on our programme on Sunday, 13 November.

Winners – Pues Occurrences competition:

Joanne McEntee, Felix M Larkin, Eoghan Smith, Ronan Lyons, Darragh Doyle and Ciaran McCabe.