Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Dublin Castle Exhibition
An exhibition in Dublin Castle, ‘The Metal Stamped by Honest Fame. Gold and Silver Boxes in Dublin, 1662–1830’, has some interesting Church of Ireland associations.
For a period in the 18th century the archbishops of Dublin, by virtue of their office were given the freedom of the city of Dublin. John Hoadley, Charles Cobbe, Arthur Smyth and William Cradock were bestowed with this honour and presented with inscribed gold boxes. An earlier archbishop, William King, was also given the freedom as was, perhaps, the best known Irish churchman who was not a bishops, the Dean Jonathan Swift.
The exhibition includes the box presented to Archbishop Smyth, on loan from the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas, and this is complimented by his portrait which is on loan from Christ Church cathedral. Dean Swift’s box is not known to have survived but in the exhibition there is a fine portrait of him by Francis Bindon which is on loan from the Synnott family collection.
Many of the silver and gold exhibits are the work of the leading Dublin goldsmiths of the day including Thomas Bolton whose father, the Revd Henry Bolton, was Rector of Ratoath in the Diocese of Meath in the mid–17th century.
The exhibition continues in the State Apartments until the end of March and is complimented by a splendidly illustrated catalogue.
On Sunday the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross will preside at the launch of the Bi–Centenary Year of the church of St John the Baptist, Midleton. Described by Samuel Lewis as ‘a handsome structure, in the later English style’ it was designed by James Pain, the architect of the Board of First Fruits for the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Midleton is part of a group of parishes based on St Colman’s cathedral, Cloyne, where the incumbent is the Dean of Cloyne, the Very Revd Susan Green.
In St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick, on Tuesday, there will be a lunchtime recital at 1.15pm by the soprano, Lorraine Galvin.
On Thursday evening at 7pm the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at a service of Evening Prayer in Christ Church, Leeson Park, followed by an Act of Deconsecration. The origins of the church lie in the Molyneux Asylum for the Female Blind which moved from Peter Street to Leeson Park in the 1860s. The Molyneux Chapel was rebuilt and renamed Christ Church Leeson Park in 1874. It became a separate parish in 1892 and was united with St Bartholomew’s in 1972.
On 22 March Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, will host a day of reflection for women in ministry, lay and ordained. To mark the Feast of the Annunciation the event, ‘Called to be Inconceivable’ will include Bible study and a talk by the Revd Rachael Wilson, Bishop’s Advisor on Disability in the Diocese of Rochester. Book at [email protected]
The AGM of the Church Education Society will be held on Thursday, 27 March, at 3.30pm via Zoom.
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times