TV & Streaming

What critics are saying about prequel to GoT

House Of e Dragon is set some 200 years before Game Of rones and is based on the Targaryen civil war. e show has been created by GoT author George RR Martin, with Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnikas coshowrunners. It has a stellar cast with Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke all starring.

While the last series of Game Of rones somewhat sullied what came before it, there is no denying that the show was a huge success for HBO and the sort of event TV that had the world talking.

Does House Of e Dragon live up to this? According to the rst batch of reviews, which are based on up to six of 10 episodes watched, it has the scale and grandeur but, for some, doesn’t quite hit the high points Game Of rones did. e UK Independent writes: “ e highest compliment I can pay House Of e Dragon is to observe how much it feels like Game Of rones. I remember eagerly awaiting the rst Hobbit movie in 2012, nine years after the end of Lord Of e Rings, only to nd a dizzying lm stripped of all the earthy charm of its forebear. House Of e Dragon looks and feels like Game of rones.” e Guardian notes in its four-star review: “All is as it was in GoT’s heyday. Fun, propulsive, looking great and sounding passable. And that, after the bizarrely poor nale to what had been a roaring success of a show, is a relief.” e BBC also gave it four stars, explaining: “It’s pure Games Of rones – just not in the way you remember... is is a darker, more solemn, more sophisticated piece.”

Empire gives the show three stars, concluding its review with: “House Of e Dragon has a lot to prove, and it makes an admirable attempt in its rst few episodes. But for better and for worse, it has not escaped the shadow of its predecessor.” e Hollywood Reporter has issues with the show but does note: House Of e Dragon looks like you want a Game of rones-adjacent series to look, which comes in no small part from the contributions of director/co- showrunner Miguel Sapochnik. Jim Clay’s production design is rich and layered and takes even locations we know to more expansive places.

Vanity Fair is charmed by the show but doesn’t think it quite lives up to Game Of rones: “House of the Dragon isn’t some wholly unworthy thing, merely shadowboxing with the legacy that bore it.

“ e series creates its own boldness, to its credit and detriment...

“What results is a show that is entertaining in a familiar, nostalgic way, but also one that strains too hard for a sense of weight and grandeur.”

IndieWire explains in its review: “ e rst six episodes set up an intimate yet epic tale of how misbegotten pride, outdated customs, and an obsession with power burned down a long-thriving kingdom... all while enjoying the ensuing ugliness more than they examine its unnecessary proliferation. Pure spectacle and (often icky) soap opera make for intermittently absorbing TV.”

House of the Dragon is on NOW / Sky Atlantic.

e cat and the psychologist

In his lm, Inside the Mind of the Cat — an hour-long documentary streaming on Net ix — director Andy Mitchell has gathered feline professionals in an attempt to answer the burning questions cat owners have. It’s a movie that knows its audience, and it’s certainly a must-watch for anyone with a camera roll dedicated to capturing their furry friend. You’ll be cooing from the very rst shot of a particularly adorable feline creatures, and nodding your head emphatically as various cat people wax poetic about how cats aren’t unfriendly — they are simply misunderstood. e experts interviewed in the lm include the director of the Cornell Feline Health Centre, Dr Bruce Kornriech; an associate professor at America’s Unity College and cat ‘psychologist’ Dr Kristyn Vitale; a cat researcher at Azabu University Dr Saho Takagi; and Ukrainian cat trainers Maryna and Svitlana Savitzky.

You’ll get answers to questions like why cats always land on their feet and whether your cat knows their own name. You’ll learn that your furry friend can run up to 30 mph, can jump as high as ve or six times their height, and is one of the few animals in the world who use 100% of their muscles when they jump.

You’ll also get a crash course in the history of the evolution of the housecathuman relationship, which, we’ve recently learned — thanks to a recent discovery of a cat skeleton in a child’s grave on the island of Cyprus — dates back at least 10,000 years. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll get these experts’ opinions on that burning question we all want to know: Do our cats love us as much as we love them?

5

well worth watching on Netflix

Four fascinating seasons of e Sinner (2017—) await to be cracked open, each one focused on a murder committed by an unlikely o ender in even stranger circumstances. Season 1 follows Jessica Biel’s Cora, who stabs a man to death on a beach in a sudden frenzy, but has no idea why. It’s up to Bill Pullman’s Detective Ambrose to unravel the shockingly disturbing events embedded in her psyche that lead to her being triggered. Highly recommended.

In Money Heist (2017—) the mastermind doing Ocean’s Elevenlevel prep work with equally satisfying reveals is e Professor. He’s got banks in his sights and we see how his intricate plans come together with slick ashbacks, timejumps and even an unreliable narrator. is is captivating TV with a distinct Spanish identity — and don’t let the dubbing don’t let the subtitles put you o .

is fantasy based on Jef Lemire’s comic book is the de nition of weird and wonderful. Sweet Tooth (2021—)f ollows Gus (a stellar Christian Convery), a halfdeer half-human child, who lives a sheltered life in the forest with his dad Pubba (Will Forte). Events relating to e Great Crumble, a viral pandemic, sweep Gus into an adventure branching down mysterious, action- lled and highly entertaining paths.

e Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019) was annoyingly canceled after one season, as the critically acclaimed fantasy series is, well, a gem. A prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson lm, the series returns to the planet ra, where three Gel ings inspire a rebellion against the absolutely diabolic Skeksis. e puppet design and performances sneak up on you. You’ll nd yourself deeply invested in this outing.

is miniseries is from a couple of years ago, but in case you missed it, it’s de nitely worth checking out. In the vein of e Sinner, Alias Grace (2017) steps back into its young female protagonist’s past to gure out why she commits murder, of which she has no memory. An adaptation of a Margaret Atwood novel, the show stars a hypnotic Sarah Gadon as Irish immigrant Grace, navigating a turbulent life as a servant for a family in colonial Toronto. Partly based on a true story, this isn’t a straightforward mystery with straightforward answers.

Bishop Denis Nulty pays tribute to Bishop Séamus Freeman SAC following his death

Just after lunch today (Saturday, 20th August 2022) I received the call informing me that Bishop Séamus Freeman SAC, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Ossory, had died peacefully in the company of his family at Highfield Heathcare, Dublin.

On hearing the news I thought of the words that Bishop Freeman offered as he retired as Bishop of Ossory on the grounds of ill health in July 2016, when he spoke of the great privilege it had been to have served the people of the Diocese of Ossory. His only regret was that he was unable to stay as shepherd of the Diocese for longer.

Bishop Freeman served the Church faithfully for many years including in his worldwide leadership of the Pallotine Order, as a parish priest in Rome and here in Ireland as Bishop of Ossory. His deep care for each person he encountered, his interest in the areas of pastoral renewal and faith formation were to the fore throughout his ministry.

During his time here in Ossory he facilitated the realisation of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan and placed a great emphasis on the role of lay people responding to their baptismal call. He worked tirelessly for the restoration of our beautiful Cathedral Chapter House and surrounding campus. This work, which continues, has served to enhance the faith life of the Diocese and remains as a fitting piece of the legacy that he leaves behind.

All of us will remember Bishop Freeman as a kind and gentle pastor as we hold his family, friends and his Pallotine brothers and the priests of Ossory in our prayers in the days to come.

May he rest now in the peace of the Lord.

Kilkenny’s Holy Wells

St. Rock’s (or Rioch’s) Well

is was located inside the old Fair Green Wall, close to St. Rock’s Church, which, along with the well, has vanished almost without trace. A large body of water called Walkin’s Lough existed close to the former site of the well. e Lough was created by the waters of the well accumulating in the basin of the Green and swelled by tributaries from the encircling higher ground in the winter season. It was predicted in ancient times that Walkin’s Lough would ood the entire City. It came close to doing so on numerous occasions.

In 1830, the Corporation addressed the ooding threat posed by the Lough when it had a covered sewer built in Walkin Street to allow the Lough waters to disappear en route to the River Nore.

Walkin’s Lough and Rock’s Well have both been vanquished from Kilkenny. e site of the nearby church in Upper Walkin Street is still fondly known as St. Rock’s Churchyard. e church may have been built in the tenth century and is believed to have served as the parish church of the district at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion.

But the later erection of St. Mary’s church in Kilkenny’s “Hightown” led to neglect and disuse of St. Rock’s, which stood outside the Town Wall. Eventually, it degenerated into a ruin. But devotees of St. Rock still attended annual get-togethers and patterns on the rst Sunday of August at the site of the church and at the well. ese Patterns and festivities continued until, in 1830, Bishop Kinsella suppressed the traditional “Pattern of St. Rock”, the last quasi-religious event of its kind in the City. e memory of Saint Rock, his church and the Holy Well was preserved in a low key and digni ed way by local man Tommy Reade, of Fiachra Place. He tended to the graves in the old churchyard and, when I spoke to him in 2005, I found him a mine of information on the legacy of St. Rock’s holy places in the City.

He was mowing the grass that grew over the well-tended graves. “Many of the tombstones and markers you see here came from St. Rock’s church”, he informed me. Tommy was instrumental in erecting a much-talked about stone plaque at the entrance to the churchyard to honour the lives of children and others who died young.

County Wells: Johnswell e water of St. John’s well, located about ve miles from Kilkenny, can cure every ailment known to man…except love and jealousy. at’s according to legend.

Historian Canon Carrigan described it as the most famous holy well in the entire Diocose of Ossory. An intriguing claim, given that he listed hundreds of wells in the Diocese.

It was famed both for its status as a place of sanctity and miraculous cures and as a meeting place for merrymakers, thieves, murderers, rioters, yahoos, beggars, hooligans, excessive drinkers, and debauchers.

While the age of the well is unknown, we know it has been attracting pilgrims and other visitors for at least four centuries. e devout Christians who visited the well said rosaries, did “rounds”, or sought miraculous cures from the waters believed to be truly blessed. Another belief was that cutting your feet on stones or broken glass near the well could save you save from Hell, or reduce your sentence in Purgatory.

As a centre of spiritual pilgrimage, it was known throughout Ireland and far beyond its shores. From ancient times, a belief was passed down through the generations that whenever Heaven wished a pilgrim to be cured of an ailment, special signs would portend that miracles were on the way.

It was believed, for example, that the sky opened above the well at midnight to allow Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and St. John to descend with the speed of lightning in the form of three snow white doves into the watery depths of the fountain. Whenever this occurred, you could be sure that somebody would be cured within the next week or so. (Pictures show, 1.St John’s Well and 2. Antiquarian Stephen Mullallywith the late Seamus Lawlor of the Nore Folk Museum decsending the steps of the well)

To be continued... -John Fitzgerald