History of the Brandsma Review

The Brandsma Review was founded in Summer 1992 in Ireland following the X-case and the resignation of Bishop Éamonn Casey of Galway.  It drew inspiration from The Ballintrillick Review, a similar magazine in circulation in the 1980s.  Appearing once every two months, The Brandsma Review offers an unequivocally Catholic approach to news and current affairs in Ireland and overseas as well as commenting on trends in general culture.

Taking the Dutch martyr Blessed Titus Brandsma O. Carm. (1881 – 1942), we hope to show the same courage as he did in life, though we face a different form of totalitarianism.

The Ballintrillick Review emphasised that it made no claim to moral superiority: it was a journal produced exclusively by sinners and for sinners.  The Brandsma Review does likewise.

The masthead Pro Vita, pro Ecclesia Dei et pro Hibernia states what our purpose is: that we support life, the Church of God and Ireland. The last is not out of character with our patron.  Before confronting the occupation authorities in his native Netherlands in support of human life and the liberties of the Church, Blessed Titus Brandsma enjoyed the hospitality of his confreres Dublin’s Whitefriar St as he was learning English.