Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 11 April 2009
Historical Society Programme
The programme for the spring meeting of the Society of the Church of Ireland Historical Society, which will be held in the Public Library, Armagh (Robinson Library), on Saturday 25 April 2009, has been circulated.
Following coffee and registration, between 10.30 and 11am, the morning session will be devoted to aspects of the Ulster Plantation. Dr Jonathan Bardon, the Belfast based historian who has written widely on the history of Ulster, will speak on ‘The Ulster Plantation: the long-term impact’, and he will be followed by Dr Brian Mac Cuarta SJ, author of a seminal work on the 1641 Rebellion in Ulster, who will consider ‘The Catholic Church during the Ulster Plantation.’
The afternoon session will begin at 2pm when Dr William Roulston, the Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation, will speak about ‘Protestant church buildings in the north of Ireland, 1600-40’. This will be followed by a research paper from James Golden, who is a student of Professor Roy Foster in Hertford College, Oxford. He will speak on ‘Disestablishment and its discontents: the politics of lay governance, 1867-70.’
There will be an opportunity for members to renew their annual subscriptions, if they have not done so already. The annual subscription is fixed at £33 or €50. Non-members are most welcome. They are asked to subscribe £7 or €10 to assist with the expenses of the conference.
The Church of Ireland Historical Society meets twice a year: in the Robinson Library, Armagh, in April, and in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in November. It exists to promote scholarly interest in the history of the Church, and to facilitate publication.
Queries may be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, the Revd Dr Adrian Empey - telephone +353 (0)1 4055056 or by e-mail.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is Easter Day when, by tradition, the bishops preach in their diocesan cathedrals. The Dean of St Patrick’s, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will preach in the national cathedral while the Dean of Belfast, Dr Houston McKelvey, will be the celebrant and preacher in St Anne’s Cathedral. At 10.45am RTE Radio will broadcast a Eucharist of the Resurrection from St Paul’s Church, Mountmellick, led by the Revd Olive Donohoe, while on RTE television at 11.30 the Easter Sunday Service will be from St Patrick’s & St Mary’s parish church, Newry, and will be led by the Revd Kingsley Sutton.
On Tuesday the lunchtime history lecture series in City Hall, Dublin, on the theme of ‘Dublin City Graveyards, which has been organized by Dublin City Archives, continues. The speaker will Dr Raymond Refaussé, from the Representative Chruch Body Library, which is the Church of Ireland’s repository for its archives and manuscripts, who will speak about the graveyards of the Church of Ireland.
On Thursday evening, at 7.30 pm, in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, there will be an atmospheric evening of gothic readings and music by candlelight with Bill Golden, Lawrence Foster, the Crux Ensemble and organist, Simon Weale. This is part of the ‘Dublin: One City One Book’ programme, organized by Dublin City Public Libraries, which is promoting Bram Stoker’s classic horror story, Dracula. Admission is free and no booking is required.
Meanwhile, at the same time, as part of the Dublin Handel Festival, ‘Celebrating Handel 250’, the Christ Church Cathedral Choir and the Orchestra of St Cecilia will perform Messiah in the cathedral, and this will be followed on Friday evening by a concert by the David Rees-William Trio which brings a jazz treatment to the classical repertoire.