Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Opening of Christ Church Exhibition
On Monday evening the British ambassador, Mr Stuart Eldon, will officially open an exhibition of medieval manuscripts in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The exhibition, entitled, ?The Christ Church Psalter in Context?, brings together, for the first time since the Reformation, all but one of the surviving manuscript books from the Augustinian cathedral priory of Holy Trinity. The priory was dissolved in the 16th century and replaced by a secular cathedral with a dean and chapter and the contents of its library were largely dispersed. The re-assembling of most of the surviving books has been due to the generosity of the three institutions in which they are now housed ? the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Representative Church Body Library.
The centre piece of the exhibition is the Christ Church psalter on loan from the Bodleian Library. This is a splendidly illuminated manuscript which was made for Stephen of Derby who was Prior of Holy Trinity in the second half of the 14th century. The volume is open at one of the finely painted miniatures which shows a group of monks singing from a lectern, emphasizing the importance of the manuscript as a source of information on music in the priory. The earliest manuscript on exhibition is the 13th century martyrology, on loan from Trinity, which is a register of Christian saints and martyrs. The volume is open at an entry for St Archbishop Laurence O?Toole, patron saint of Dublin. Among the other exhibits are administrative and liturgical manuscripts which, as well as being objects of beauty, shed light on how Holy Trinity, as one of the most prestigious religious houses in medieval Ireland, organized its affairs.
An illustrated account of the exhibition, by Dr Raymond Refaussé, Librarian and Archivist in the RCB Library, has been published in the current issue of the Irish Arts Review.
A concert of choral and organ music, associated with the exhibition, will be given by the Cathedral Choir, on Saturday 19th June at 8.00 pm in Christ Church, while, for those who need more immediate exposure to early choral music, Mark Duley?s 13 voice choir, Resurgam, will sing Brumel?s ?Earthquake Mass? in Dublin City Hall today (Saturday) at 1.05 pm.
Today (Saturday) the Diocesan Synod of Cork, Cloyne and Ross will meet in Skibbereen while that of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert will assemble in Tralee.
Tomorrow morning (Sunday) the preacher in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, will be the Chief Secretary of the Church Army, Capt Philip Johanson, while in the afternoon the Diocese of Raphoe will host an open air Columban Celebration at Gartan. In Christ Church Cathedral, at Evensong, Canon Ricky Rountree will be installed as Treasurer and the Revd Ben Neill as twelfth canon.
On Monday the Archbishop of Armagh will be in, Kanuga, North Carolina, where he will chair the meeting of the Lambeth Commission which will continue until Friday.
The Chapel Choir of Trinity College, Dublin, will be in residence in a number of Venetian churches in July. To assist with this venture they will give a fund raising concert in the College Chapel on Thursday evening, while on Friday evening, in Christ Church, Taney, the St Patrick?s Cathedral Choir will give a concert in support of their forthcoming trip to Norwich.
On Friday the Rt Revd Edwin Owen, former Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, will celebrate the 70th anniversary of his ordination. Since his retirement Bishop Owen has lived in Dublin and until recently has been a regular member of the congregation of St Patrick?s Cathedral.
::rcblibrary::