Saturday 21st April 2001

Members of the Church of Ireland have sadly learnt of the death, on Friday April 20 2001, of The Very Reverend Maurice Carey, who served as Dean of Cork for 23 years.

Born in 1926, the late Dean was a graduate of TCD and was ordained in 1952 for the Parish of Larne, Co. Antrim.

From 1955-56, he studied at the prestigious Union Theological Seminary in New York on an Ecumenical Fellowship, and among other later appointments was Dean of Residence at Queen's University, Belfast and in 1964 was appointed Vicar of the important Church of St Bartholomew in Clyde Road, Dublin.

He served as Dean of Cork from 1971 to 1993, when he retired, and in retirement returned to his native Dublin where he was in charge of St John's Church, Sandymount.

While in Cork, Dean Carey presided over a period of great change in St Fin Barre's Cathedral and was instrumental in setting up the St Fin Barre's Study Centre.  He also achieved much in the musical and liturgical life of the cathedral.  His freshness of mind contributed greatly to this success and he was kind and helpful to younger clergy at the start of their ministry.

The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, The Right Reverend Paul Colton, has added to this, saying, "He was a formative influence on me, both as a student in Cork and as a cathedral chorister." Bishop Colton also paid tribute to him and to his wife, art critic Hilary Pyle, for their immense contribution to the religious and artistic life of Cork city.

 We offer sincere sympathy to his family, Hilary, Colm, Sorcha, Duinseach and Meanus.

 Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.