Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Saturday 4 February 2006
Christ Church Choir Tour of USA
On Thursday the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will begin its tour to the USA with a lunchtime concert in Holy Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York. Over the following eight days there will be further concerts in Long Island, St Matthew?s Cathedral, Baltimore and the Epiphany Church, Washington, and a reception at the Irish Embassy. The choir will also sing Evensong in St Thomas? Church, New York, St Matthew?s Cathedral, Baltimore, and in the National Cathedral in Washington, as well as singing at the Solemn Mass in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Times Square, on Sunday 12 February.
The tour is the culmination of over a year of preparation and fundraising, much of it undertaken by the choir members, which has raised some ?60,000, and this has been augmented by a donation from Culture Ireland. It is believed that this is the first time that an Irish cathedral choir has toured the USA and it is hoped that the venture, as well as drawing attention to the vibrant musical life of Christ Church, will make a contribution to the promotion of Ireland?s cultural heritage. The choir?s repertoire for the tour will include Caitriona Ni Dhubhgaill?s settings in Irish of the evening canticles, the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis.
The twenty-four members of the choir, together with the Director of Music, Ms Judy Martin, and the acting Assistant Organist, Mr Tristan Russcher, will be joined on the tour by the Dean of Christ Church, the Very Revd Desmond Harman.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the lecture sermon at the Sung Eucharist in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, will be delivered by Mr Peter Preston, who for twenty years was editor of The Guardian. Meanwhile in London the Dean of Cork, the Very Revd Michael Burrows, will preach in St Paul?s Cathedral with which the renowned architect, William Burges, had an association at the same time as he was working on St Fin Barre?s Cathedral in Cork. A group of the Friends of St Fin Barre?s are in London to visit sites associated with Burges. In St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, at Evensong there will be a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Deitrich Bonhoeffer at which the preacher will be the Revd Patrick Comerford, Southern Regional Co-ordinator of CMS Ireland.
From Monday to Wednesday the Archbishop of Dublin will be with his clergy from Dublin and Glendalough at their conference in Rosses Point, Co. Sligo.
On Monday evening the Bishop of Clogher will institute the Revd Glen West to the incumbency of Derryvullen North and Castle Archdale in Derryvullen North parish church where the preacher will be the Revd Peter Rutherford, Rector of Castlepollard in the Diocese of Meath. Mr West has been rector of Annagh in the Dioceses of Kilmore since 2004.
Following the retirement of the Very Revd Robert Townley the prospective union of the parish groups of Kildare and Newbridge has come into effect and the Rector of Newbridge, the Revd Dr John Marsden, will be rector of the new Kildare and Newbridge group of parishes. The Bishop of Meath and Kildare has also appointed Dr Marsden as Dean of Kildare.
Many of those who come to the RCB Library are in pursuit of their ancestors and many leave disappointed because they have not adequately prepared for their quest. All first time researchers should read the new edition of How to Trace Your Family History, edited by John Grenham and published by Dublin City Public Libraries.