Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
First Woman Dean Installed
Tomorrow (Sunday) a new milestone in the evolution of the ordained ministry will be reached when, in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Killala, the Very Revd Dr Susan Patterson will be installed as Dean of Killala. She will be the first woman dean in the Church of Ireland and, indeed, the first woman to hold a dignity in any Irish cathedral. Although several woman priests have been appointed to canonries none, until now, has become a dean, chancellor, precentor or treasurer of a cathedral, much less an archdeacon or bishop.
Dr Patterson was ordained in 1988 in the Anglican Church of New Zealand where she served both in the parish ministry and as a tutor in the University of Otago and Knox College. In 1997 she joined the staff of Trinity College, Bristol, one of the more vibrant theological colleges in the Church of England, where she taught ethics and applied theology. While there she published Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age which appeared in the Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine series.
In 2000 Dr Patterson crossed the Irish Sea to take charge of the Kildallon group of parishes in the Diocese of Kilmore and in November of last year was instituted to the incumbency of the Kilmoremoy group of parishes in the Diocese of Killala which is centred on Ballina. In addition to her cathedral duties, Dr Patterson is responsible for the care of the parishes of Kilmoremoy (Ballina), Castleconnor, Kilglass, Easkey and Straid (Foxford).
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Archbishop of Dublin will visit Howth and, at Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, will commission lay readers.
In St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, there will be an Epiphany Carol Service at 3.15 pm. Following the service David Adams, former chorister and organ scholar, will launch a
new CD featuring the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Peter Barley accompanied on the organ by David Leigh and Tristan Russcher. Christmas at St Patrick?s has been produced by Dr Kerry Houston, of the Music Department in NUI Maynooth, and is available in the Cathedral Shop at ?12.99.
The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Harper, will institute the Revd Nicholas Dark, formerly curate of Ballyholme in the Diocese of Down, to the incumbency of Magheragall and on Friday he will be in Lisburn to institute the Revd Paul Dundas to the incumbency of Christ Church. Mr Dundas has been Rector of St Aidan?s, Belfast, since 2000.
On Wednesday there will be a Continuing Education Day for the clergy of Cork, Cloyne and Ross on the theme of ?The Ministry of Healing?. The speaker will be Bishop Dominic Walker OGS from the Diocese of Monmouth. Later in the week the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, will be in Cardiff University where, as part of his LLM course, he will speak on ?The Law of Confirmation ? a Comparative Approach?
A major study of the La Touche family, which appeared late last year, contains much valuable information for those interested in the history of the Church of Ireland. The La Touche family came to Ireland in the late 17th century after fleeing from religious persecution in France and like many French protestants refugees they conformed to the established Church of Ireland. As bankers, property developers and landowners they made their mark on Irish society in general and on the Church of Ireland to which they had a genuine devotion. The La Touche Family in Ireland by Michael McGinley has been published by the La Touche Legacy Committee.
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