Another Kindred Chestertonian Across the Sea

Posted on December 17, 2014 by albanychesterton

I love this emblem and banner* of the GK Chesterton Society of Ireland, a group that seems to have been started under similar auspices to our own, albeit a couple years prior, and with a far more impressive blog than our humble attempt here. Mr. O’Ceallaigh is a prolific writer and a great ambassador to all things Chestertonian.

Here is an excellent lecture Mr. O’Ceallaigh delivered at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth in 2014, on the subject of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation.

*Not only does his blog rally me to step up my game, but the Ireland group’s artwork has reminded me of an earlier daydream I’d entertained of commissioning our own heraldry (as befits any self-respecting Chesterton Society for necessary items such as flags and bumper stickers).

A New Year, A Short History

Posted on December 12, 2014 by albanychesterton

Join us in January as we launch into a new book, A Short History of England, sure to delight the Anglophiles within our ranks, and perhaps even our resident Romanian too. We plan to break the reading up over three months, six chapters at a time, so the busy holiday season ought not interfere terribly with your reading schedule.

Here is a taste of Dale Ahlquist’s lecture on A Short History

Most history books are written to correct other history books. Chesterton’s A Short History of England is no exception. In every other sense, however, it is exceptional to every other history book. Chesterton wanted to write a popular history, that is, “a history from the standpoint of a member of the public.” Most historical accounts of England, he said, were extremely “anti-popular,” that is, they ignored all the large and obvious things, “like the size of Gothic churches” and the fact that the squires in large country houses are not called an abbots but their houses are called abbeys. The difference between a popular history and a scholarly history “is not about the facts but about the importance of the facts.” Chesterton maintained that legend is usually more important than history, because legend is what everyone in a village knows is important, whereas history is only what one person-usually a crank-thinks is important.