Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 23 August 2008
Heritage Week
The increasing popularity of Heritage Week provides opportunities for churches and cathedrals to reach out to a broad spectrum of interest which transcends their normal worshipping community. The Church of Ireland, through an accident of history, has inherited responsibility for many important ecclesiastical buildings in which there is much public interest. However, while there are rarely adequate resources to keep many of these buildings open on a regular basis, Heritage Week offers an opportunity for some focused access.
In Dublin there are extensive programmes in both cathedrals. In Christ Church there will be guided tours by members of the cathedral staff each day at 11am and 2.30pm. In addition there will be a number of special tours at lunchtime. Next Monday the architectural historian, Dr Michael O’Neill, will give a tour on the medieval and Victorian tiles and on Tuesday the Music Librarian, Sue Hemmens, will speak about the cathedral music. Dr Kenneth Milne, Historiographer of the Church of Ireland, will give a tour on Wednesday, one of the bellringers, Lesley Taylor, will lead a tour of the belfry on Friday and today (Saturday) week Lesley Whieside, author of the guide to the stained glass in Christ Church, will speak about the windows.
In St Patrick’s there will be guided tours each day from Monday to Friday at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm and series of lunchtime talks. On Monday the Dean of St Patrick’s, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will speak on ‘Swift and his Friends’ and on Tuesday David Miller will talk about some of the effigies and memorials. On Wednesday Albert Fenton will discuss the Knights of St Patrick, Dr Mervyn Taylor, one of the bellringers, will speak about the bells on Thursday, and on Friday Eamon Horan will talk about ‘The 18th Royal Irish in China, Burma and the Crimea’.
On Monday evening at 6.30pm, in Finglas, Library Dr Maighréad Ni Mhurchadha will speak about the vestry book of the parish of Finglas which she edited for publication. The vestry records of the united parishes of Finglas, St Margaret’s, Artane and the Ward, 1657-1758 was published by Four Courts Press as part of the Representative Church Body Library’s texts and calendars series.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the services in Christ Church Cathedral the services will be sung by the choir of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, directed by Malcolm Wisener, while in St Patrick’s the visiting choir will be from St Andrew’s Church, Fulham Fields. The choir of St Andrew’s Church, Malahide, directed by Rodney Baldwin, will sing the services in St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Warwick.
In St Columb's Cathedral Derry, the combined choirs of St Brigid's Cathedral, Kildare and St Brigid's Church, Stillorgan, directed by Derek Verso, will sing at the morning eucharist. The celebrant will be the Dean of Derry, Dr William Morton, and the preacher will be the Rector of Stillorgan, Revd Ian Gallagher, a native of St Columb's where he was a chorister.
Tomorrow (Sunday) evening in St Edan’s Cathedral, Ferns, the Ven. Chris Long will be installed as Archdeacon of Ferns. The preacher will be the parish priest of Bunclody, Fr Aidan Jones. At this service an altar cross in memory of Edward John Crofts, donated by Elsie Kehoe, will be dedicated. Archdeacon Long, a native of Lambeg parish in the Diocese of Connor, was ordained in the Church of England and spent much of his career as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force. He was appointed as Rector of Enniscorthy in 2005.