Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 30 May 2009Powerscourt Celebrations
An exciting programme of summer events, both social and religious, begins tomorrow (Sunday) in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow as the village continues its ecumenical celebrations to mark the 150th anniversaries of the three local churches – St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in the village and St Brigid’s Church of Ireland in nearby Kilbride.
St Mary’s and St Patrick’s churches were built with the financial support of the 7th Viscount Powerscourt. St Mary’s began its life in 1859, replacing a temporary building in the village called Dixon’s Barn. The two Church of Ireland buildings date from that same year – St Brigid’s, Kilbride was consecrated in June 1859 and the construction of St Patrick’s, Powerscourt was also completed although not fully licensed for worship until four years later.
Tomorrow (Sunday) there will be a Victorian Festival Day for all the family from 1pm in the centre of the village, which will be closed to traffic, while the following weekend, 5-7 June, the Kilbride Flower Festival will be held in St Brigid’s Church. The festival will close with a Festival Eucharist at 4pm on Sunday, 7 June, when the Archbishop of Dublin will preside and preach.
A highlight of the year-long 150th anniversary celebrations will be the Enniskerry Pilgrimage on Saturday 14 June when participants can rediscover their ancient church roots. Led by the two Archbishops of Dublin from the village’s two parish churches of St Mary and St Patrick respectively, the groups will join up at the gates of Powerscourt Demesne, before stopping at the old church in the grounds and then moving on to the site of the medieval church of St Beccan’s in Stagonil (Churchtown). The event will conclude back at the orchard in Powerscourt Demesne for a social gathering of strawberries and cream, with music by the Stedfast Band.
A 64-page publication with features about the history of the village, its most celebrated residents, and the three churches over the last 150 years has been produced to mark the anniversaries. ENNISKERRY – Celebrating 150 Years of Its Three Parish Churches, is available (price €10) from the parish offices (St Mary’s @ tel. 01-2760030 and St Patrick’s @ tel. 01-2863862).
Further information on the Enniskerry celebrations may be had from Judith Elmes at [email protected] or 01-2807375.
This evening (Saturday) in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, the Edward Bunting Harp Festival Concert will be held at 8.30pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning RTE Radio will broadcast a Eucharist for the Feast of Penetcost at which the celebrant will be the Revd Tom Gordon and the preacher the Revd Wilbert Gourley. The Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will preach in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, while in Clonmacnoise there will be a Summer Service in Templeconnor Church at 4pm. In St Fin Barre’s Cathedral the Bishop of Cork will ordain the Revd Damien Keane to the priesthood. Mr Keane has been curate assistant in the Bandon union of parishes since 2008.
On Wednesday evening at 6.30pm, in conjunction with her M.Mus. qualification, Patrice Keegan, formerly organ scholar of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, will give an organ recital which will be followed by further M.Mus. examination recitals given by other candidates at 7.30pm. Entry is free and all are welcome. Meanwhile at 8pm in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a screening of the iconic silent film, ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’. The sound track will be improvised live on the cathedral organ by the internationally renowned concert organist, David Briggs.