Press Releases13 Apr 11

Bishops appoint the Very Revd Patrick Rooke as new Bishop of Tuam, Killala & Achonry

The House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland meeting today appointed the Very Revd Patrick W. Rooke as the new Bishop of the United Dioceses of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, to succeed the Rt Revd Dr Richard Henderson, who recently moved to the Diocese of Carlisle in the Church of England.

Announcing the new appointment, the Most Revd Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said:

‘I am delighted to be able to announce that at a meeting of the House of Bishops in Portmarnock today, the Very Revd Patrick Rooke, Dean of Armagh, was elected to succeed the Rt Revd Dr Richard Henderson as Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. It gives me great personal pleasure to welcome the election of the Dean to be the next bishop. I very much look forward to Dean Rooke taking leadership of the Church of Ireland people in the geographically very large diocese of the West. He brings many gifts of leadership, imagination and spirituality to the task. He has made a notable contribution in his time as Dean of Armagh and the people of Tuam, Killala & Achonry can look forward to receiving as their bishop a person of great pastoral sensitivity and effectiveness. As a member of the House of Bishops I know he will bring very many insights to enhance the consultations of the bishops and of the wider Church.

‘I particularly note his long engagement with the Hard Gospel project and its emphasis upon inclusivity and the fostering of good relations amongst people of goodwill and I know that this interest will be sustained and developed in his new diocese.’

Dean Rooke said he was delighted to accept the appointment and looked forward to leading the clergy and people of Tuam, Killala and Achonry at this important time for the Dioceses. He said that he took heart from the Special Meeting of the General Synod held last month, which had given almost unanimous support for the appointment of a new bishop to the numerically small diocese, but that it had also highlighted some of the issues that would need to be addressed.  The Dean said he would take his time to consider carefully the implications for himself as bishop and for the United Dioceses, and that he would encourage the clergy and people to share that journey with him.

Dean Rooke knows the West well. His mother’s family came from County Mayo and his sister and other family members live in the Diocese. ‘Having spent the past thirty-three years in Northern Ireland, returning to the Republic will be different,’ he said. ‘However, I have found throughout my ministry that the experience gained growing up in a rectory family in Dublin has prepared me for most things.’

The Dean said he would be sorry to leave Armagh. ‘To have had the oversight of St Patrick’s Cathedral and of Armagh Public Library for the past five years has been a real privilege and we will be saying farewell with heavy hearts.’

Dean Rooke is married to Alison and they have three grown-up children, Emily, Nicholas and Susanna. Details of the new bishop’s consecration will follow in due course.

ENDS