Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 24 July 2010
Huguenot Conference in Derry
Advance information is now available on the Fifth International Huguenot Congress which will be held in the University of Ulster (Magee Campus) in Derry from 2 to 5 September. As most of the Huguenot settlers in Ireland eventually conformed to the Church of Ireland this event should be of particular interest to those involved with Church of Ireland history.
There will be sessions on the evocation of the Edict of Nantes, Huguenot life in exile, religion and belief, intellectual life, literature and music, and family history with speakers from Ireland, England, Scotland,, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and the USA. Among the Irish participants will be Dr Jane McKee from the University of Ulster who has organized the Congress, Ms Vivien Costello from Dublin who has written widely on Irish Huguenots, Mrs Angelique Day who is a descendent of the de la Cherois family, and Dr Raymond Refaussé from the RCB Library. From further afield will come Professor Jean-Paul Pittion of the University of Tours who taught for many years in Trinity College, Dublin, David van der Linden from Utrecht, Andreas Flick of the Huguenot Society of Germany; Philip Benedict from Geneva and Randolph Vigne of the Huguenot Society in London who was for many years the editor of the Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain & Ireland.
On Sunday 5 September there will be a day excursion to Dublin for the annual Huguenot Service in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, at which the address will be given by Dr Muriel McCarthy from Marsh’s Library. The service will be followed by a reception hosted by the Irish Section of the Huguenot Society and a tour of Huguenot sites in Dublin.
The Huguenot refuge in Ireland is currently the subject of an exhibition in the Musée Rochelais d’Histoire Protestante which is attached to the Eglise Reformée in La Rochelle. Exhibition panels carry photographs and brief histories of Church of Ireland churches with Huguenot associations – St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn, St Paul’s church (the French church), Portarlington, and Christ Church Cathedral and St Olave’s church, Waterford. Decorative architectural details from these buildings have been interpreted by the artist Tommy Barr, from Dromore, Co. Down, in a series of arts works.
Today (Saturday) Evensong in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the Priory Singers who will also sing the services tomorrow (Sunday). In St Mary’s church, Killarney, there will be a concert this evening (Saturday) by Spraoi Chiarrai.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the services will be sung tomorrow (Sunday) by the Stamford Bridge Singers. In Myshall church, Co. Carlow, where the rector is the Revd Lester Scott, there will be a Songs of Praise Service at 3pm at which the restored church clock and the gift of hymnals will be dedicated. The church was built in 1811 with the support of the Board of First Fruits.
On Tuesday Evensong will be sung in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, by the Surrey Youth Choir and on Wednesday there will be a lunchtime concert by the Holy Heart of Mary Alumni Choir from Newfoundland.
On Thursday evening in St Barrahane’s church, Castletownshend, Co. Cork, the St Barrahane’s Church Festival of Music continues with a recital by Catherine Leonard (violin) and Hugh Tinney (piano) who will play music by Beethoven and Debussy.
In St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Evensong on Friday will be sung by the choir of Circencester parish church, Gloucestershire.