Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 24 May 2008New Dean of Christ Church to be Installed
Next Thursday evening in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the new Dean, the Ven. Dermot Dunne, will be installed at a service of Choral Evensong when the preacher will be the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Rt Revd Michael Burrows.
Dermot Dunne was born in 1959 and was educated in the Pontifical University in Maynooth, the Chiron Centre for Integrative Psychotherapy, London, and Dublin City University. He was ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in 1983 and after serving in various capacities until 1995, he returned to lay life. He was licensed as a Church of Ireland priest in 1998 after study in the Church of Ireland Theological College. He was appointed Dean’s Vicar in Christ Church Cathedral in 1999 and since 2001 has been Rector of the Crosspatrick group of parishes in the Diocese of Ferns. He was appointed Archdeacon of Ferns in 2007 and Warden of the Cashel and Ossory Guild of Lay Readers in the same year.
As well as being Dean, he will be the incumbent of the Christ Church Cathedral group of parishes includes several of Dublin’s most historic parishes, St Andrew, St Werburgh, All Saints (Grangegorman) and St Michan, St Paul and St Mary. As the cathedral church of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough and the metropolitan church of the southern province of the Church of Ireland, Christ Church hosts many important church events including the consecration of bishops, the ordination of clergy and the enthronement of newly elected Archbishops of Dublin.
In addition to the pastoral and liturgical duties of the cathedral and its parishes the new Dean will be responsible for the overall management of one of Dublin’s most popular tourist attractions and one of the city’s most loved buildings. The cathedral is famous for its bell tower which, with 16 bells, is one of the largest in the world and as a result, Christ Church is the venue in Dublin where many hundreds of revellers come to ‘ring in the new year’.
Dermot Dunne will be the 35th Dean of Christ Church since 1539, when the last Augustinian Prior, Robert Paynswick was made Dean under reforms initiated by Henry VIII, and the 67th head of the house since Gervaise was appointed prior in c, 1171.
Today (Saturday) there will be a choristers’ audition day in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, from 11am until 12.30 and from 3 to 4pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Revd Colin Young, Assistant Priest in St George’s Church, Belfast, will preach at the Sung Eucharist in Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford.
In Clonmacnoise summer services, arranged by the Rector of Athlone, the Revd Graham Doyle, resume in Templeconnor Church at 4 pm and will continue each Sunday until September.
The House of Bishops will have a residential meeting in Glenstal Abbey from Monday until Thursday.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Tuesday, the final lunchtime lecture in the current series on the 19th century restoration of the cathedral will be given by Mrs Lesley Whiteside who will speak about the stained glass which was commissioned for the restored building.
A new book by Duncan Scarlett, a retired school headmaster and parishioner of St George’s, Belfast, has been published. Dedicated to St Anne, is an account of the history and architecture of the 29 churches and chapels of the Church of Ireland which are dedicated to St Anne. The book, priced £8/€11 is available from the Good Bookshop in Donegall Street, Belfast or from the author at [email protected]