Keith Williamson

D-Day and Bagration – Lest We Forget…

Keith Williamson on June 5, 2024, 6:30 am

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This Thursday, many of us across these islands will pause and remember the brave men and women involved in the D-Day landings. At least 135,000 Irishmen fought in WW2 and thousands of Irish, including the Royal Ulster Rifles, took part in D-Day. The 80th Anniversary of Operation Overlord should, quite rightly, be about reflecting upon the huge sacrifices of our grandparents’ generation. But politics inevitably seep into commemoration, particularly given our troubled past, the recent turbulence of Brexit and Russia’s …

All Hallows’ Eve & Reformation Day: Our Divided Christian Heritage…

Keith Williamson on October 28, 2023, 11:04 am

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Our fixation with the Catholic and Protestant segments within the census reminds us that the Reformation casts a long shadow over our politics and very identity. Hallowe’en (October 31st) is also known as All Hallows’ Eve (to many Catholics) and Reformation Day (to many Protestants). There was little love between the divided sons and daughters of the Western Rite Church in the 1500s. Do these old confessional battle lines still matter to us today? On All Hallows’ Eve (31st October) …

A Reflection on Derry Day and the Maiden City by a Critical Friend and Long Departed Son…

Keith Williamson on August 8, 2023, 11:11 am

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brown brick building under white clouds during daytime

‘Derry Day’ takes place this Saturday, the second Saturday in August, when thousands of people within the city and beyond will commemorate the Relief of Derry after its 105-day siege of 1689. My childhood memories of Derry Day, in the late 1970s, are of more frugal times, with Waterside churches hosting visiting branch clubs for lunch and raising money for charity. My parents and other volunteers worked tirelessly to provide a good feed for hungry marchers and the craic was …

Partisan patriot games will not unite Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter….

Keith Williamson on June 9, 2023, 7:00 am

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Today is the 225th Anniversary of the Battle of Saintfield. Over the course of the last decade we have managed to navigate the choppy waters of centennial commemorations. This period of remembrance and reflection has coincided with Sinn Féin becoming the largest party across our island. In the wake of this deep green tsunami, the parties that once dominated nationalist Ireland, North and South, have been increasingly forced to reassert their own republican credentials and sidestep nuance. Connolly House (or …

Cardinal Paul Cullen – Dons, Popes, Brits and Fenians…

Keith Williamson on April 29, 2023, 7:00 am

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Cardinal Paul Cullen was a colossus who towered above Victorian Ireland. So why, today, is he so unfamiliar and so unloved? Some historians say he was the most significant Irishman between O’Connell and Parnell; but many others do not. Cullen’s detractors seize upon four touchstone areas – dons, popes, Brits and Fenians. Lazy judgements often follow. From the outset, it is important to recognise Cullen’s extraordinary ascent. The son of a strong farmer from County Kildare, his piety and precocious …

The close conjunction of Jewish, Christian and Muslim festivals this month is very interesting in a rapidly changing Ireland…

Keith Williamson on April 8, 2023, 7:00 am

| Readers 1437

the ceiling of a cathedral with a colorful design

The next couple of weeks will see a close calendar alignment of the Jewish Passover (5th – 13th April), the Roman Catholic and Protestant Easter (9th April), the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Easter (16th April), and the end of Ramadan (21st April). Our newest faith communities in Ireland – Orthodox Christian and Muslim – now number about 80,000 each and join over 20,000 Pentecostals (African, Latin American and Romanian) as the fastest growing religious groups on our rapidly changing island. …