Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 12 August 2006
Caring for Parish Records
The care and custody of parish records has, ultimately, been a responsibility of the Representative Church Body since disestablishment, and, with the exception of older parish registers, that still remains the case. Since 1981 the RCB has sought to fulfill this responsibility through the provision of an archival service at the RCB Library in Dublin. Purpose built storage accommodation, professional archival staff and freely accessible reading rooms have combined to ensure a steady transfer of records from the parishes, the prompt listing of them, and their ready availability to researchers.
Records from over 900 parishes and related chaplaincies have been transferred to the Library but a significant amount of valuable archival material remains in local custody. In some instances clergy and parish officers seem unaware of the option of transferring records or uncertain of the proceedure. The Library staff will always be glad to visit parishes, to offer advice and to make such arrangements as are appropriate for the safe care and custody of records. Other parishes have deliberately opted to retain custody of their records although this involves ensuring that they are adequately stored and are made available to researchers on request ? the Constitution of the Church of Ireland is explicit about these responsibilities.
However, whether or not historic records are retained in local custody, parishes will always have responsibility for current and semi-current records. In this respect a recent publication from the Church of England Record Centre has much sound advice to offer. Keep or Bin?? The Care of your Parish Records is obviously aimed at the specific constituency of the Church of England and so some of the legalities may not apply to an Irish situation. However, much of the general advice is likely to be most helpful to those clergy and parish officers who take seriously their responsibilities for parish records. Keep or Bin?? may be downloaded free of charge from the Church of England Record Centre website ? www.cofe.anglican.org/about/librariesandarchives/
Today (Saturday) the Bedford School Chapel Choir will sing Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. In St George?s Church, Carrick-on-Shannon, Camerata Kilkenny will give a concert as part of the Carrick-on-Shannon Water Music Festival and at the same venue tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon Professor Gerard Gillen, from NUI Maynooth, will give an organ recital. St George?s Church has been out of use for some years but is being brought back into use as a cultural centre and place of worship under the direction of a local committee.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning the Chamber Choir of St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, directed by Andrew Mackriel, will sing at the Choral Eucharist in St Michael?s Church, Ballina, where the preacher will be the Dean of Killala, Dr Susan Patterson . The Chamber Choir will sing Evensong at 4 pm in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Killala, where Canon Aean Ferguson, the Diocesan Communications Officer, will preach, while in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, Evensong will be sung by the Bedford School Chapel Choir.
On Tuesday evening at 7 pm the Choir of St Peter?s, Nottingham, will sing a Solemn Eucharist in St Bartholomew?s Church, Dublin.
A three day soccer school and life skills programme, organized in association with the Diocese of Connor and Liverpool FC Community Department, will begin in the Upper Shankill area of Belfast on Thursday. The project is headed up by Sister Valerie Thom, a Church Army Community Evangelist, and the highlight of the event will be the appearance of the European Cup which was won by Liverpool last year.