Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Saturday 28 March 2015
Archbishop Ussher Correspondence Published
Next Monday, in what may prove to be one of the publishing events of the year, the long awaited edition of the correspondence of Archbishop James Ussher will be launched in the Long Room of Trinity College Library by Mordechai Feingold, Professor of History at California Institute of Technology. The launch will be preceded by a seminar at which the principal speaker will be Alan Ford, Professor of Theology in the University of Nottingham, whose seminal work, James Ussher: theology, history and politics in early–modern Ireland and England was published by Oxford University Press in 2007.
Ussher, one of the first undergraduates in Trinity College, was elected to fellowship in 1600, and held the professorship of Divinity from 1607 to 1621. Successively Bishop of Meath and Archbishop of Armagh, he has been described as one of the most influential intellectuals of early modern Europe. His correspondence not only reflects his political and ecclesiastical role as head of the Church of Ireland but also reveals his pivotal role in Irish, British and European intellectual life.
The Correspondence of James Ussher, 1600–1656, has been edited by Dr Elizabethanne Boran, Librarian of the Edward Worth Library, and has been published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission. Comprising 1462 pages in three volumes this is the definitive edition of Ussher’s correspondence and is a vital research tool for anyone who is interested in Irish and European intellectual, cultural, religious and political life in the first half of the seventeenth century.
Today (Saturday) churches and communities throughout Ireland are encouraged to join the international community for ‘Earth Hour’ and switch off their lights for one hour beginning at 8,30pm. Eco Congregation Ireland suggests that churches might like to organise a time of prayer and reflection with candlelight worship.
St. Mary’s church, Navan, will launch its bicentenary celebrations tomorrow (Sunday) when the Bishop of Meath & Kildare will be the celebrant and preacher at the 11.30am Eucharist. This special occasion marks the 200th anniversary of the re–building of St. Mary’s church to a design by the then Rector of Navan, the Revd Daniel Augustus Beaufort, father of Admiral Francis Beaufort, inventor of the wind scale, and son of the French Huguenot, the Revd Daniel Cornelius Beaufort, Rector of Navan 1747 – 1765. In Derry Cathedral, the Choir will sing special music for Palm Sunday while, in the evening, the Chamber Choir joins the Choir of St Eugene’s Cathedral where they will give a performance of Faure’s Requiem.
In St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick, on Wednesday at lunchtime there will be a special recital for Holy Week by organist Peter Barley who will play Alan Ridout’s Stations of the Cross.
A somewhat different Stations of the Cross will take place on Good Friday when the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory will visit all the railway stations in his diocese and at each station he will hold a short reflection relevant to the area. This is not a fund raising event but as mark of gratitude to Irish Rail there will be a collection at each station for the IR Benefit Fund.
In Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin will, in the context of the annual Good Friday Walk of Faith, dedicate a sculpture, ‘Homeless Jesus’ by the Canadian artist, Tim Schmalz. The sculpture has been donated to Dublin by an anonymous North American episcopalian benefactor and Mr Schmalz has chosen Christ Church as the location because he said it was ‘the spiritual heart of Dublin’.
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’