The fortunes of the house of Desmond in the 16th century, and chiefly those of Lord James Fitzgerald (son of the great Earl) who became a Protestant, and was therefore rejected by his people and retired to England. The story opens with a Protestant service in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1581. It contains interesting allusions to Glendalough, Dublin, and Adare. Author’s viewpoint Protestant. =O’DONOGHUE, ⸺.= ⸺ THE PRINCE OF KILLARNEY. (LONDON). =O’DONOVAN, Gerald.= ⸺ FATHER RALPH. Pp. 494. (_Macmillan_). 6_s._ Six impressions within a few months. 1914. An anti-clerical and modernist novel by an Author with inside knowledge of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is the story of a young priest from his birth until we take leave of him (_défroqué_) on board a ship leaving Ireland. In the course of the narrative there is presented a general view of Irish life as seen from the standpoint of such writers as M. J. F. M’Carthy, W. P. O’Ryan, and “Pat,” but clerical life is depicted with far more minute knowledge than by any of these. Sensational features such as the amours of priests, nuns, &c., are avoided, though much innuendo is indulged in. All the estimable characters in the book are represented as either Modernists, or else voteens and people who avoid thinking on serious problems. The Bishop, Father Molloy, and Ralph’s mother, as depicted by the Author, are revolting in the extreme. Except in rare instances all the outward details of Irish life are true to reality, but seen with jaundiced eyes. It may fairly be said that there is scarcely a page of this book that does not appeal in one form or another to non-Catholic prejudice. ⸺ WAITING. Pp. 387. (_Macmillan_). 6_s._ 1914.