Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
New Appointment to ARL
Armagh Robinson Library has announced the appointment of a Curatorial Research Fellow, Dr Max Bryant, to work on its collection of prints, which were provided by the Library’s founder, Archbishop Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby. The 15–month post is funded by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art which promotes the research, study and appreciation of British art and architecture. Professor Mark Hallett, the Centre’s Director of Studies, said that “we are delighted to be funding this research, and wish Dr Bryant well in investigating and interpreting what is a fascinating and important print collection”.
The collection, known as the ‘Rokeby Collection’, contains around 4,500 prints. Spanning the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, it includes examples of many of the best–known engravers working in Ireland, Great Britain and Continental Europe. According to Dr Bryant “the prints in the Rokeby Collection demonstrate the range and possibilities of the medium, from the dramatic violence of Goltzius to the serenity of Mellan and the psychological depth of Nanteuil. What is even more remarkable is that they survive together in the Library that was built to house them.”
Dr Bryant read English in St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and was a research student in history of art and architecture in St John’s College, Cambridge. His most recent employment has been with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where he held sequential Research Fellowships and was involved in curating the new British Galleries which were launched in 2020. His previous experience includes cataloguing prints and drawings for Cambridge University Library and working Country Life magazine. He is also the author of a book on the eighteenth–century collector Charles Townley and the history of his museum which was long–listed for The British Art Journal’s Berger Prize for excellence in the field of British Art History.
The Armagh Robinson Library was built in 1771 to a design by Archbishop Robinson’s architect, Thomas Cooley, and was established by an act of parliament in 1773. As well as the Rokeby prints, the Library holds some 42,000 books on medicine, science, history, law, politics, theology and travel, an important collection of manuscripts. and Archbishop Beresford’s archaeological collection. The Keeper of the Library is the newly appointed Dean of Armagh, the Very Revd Shane Forster, and the Director is Dr Robert Whan.
American publishers Wipf & Stock have announced the publication of Perspectives on Prayer and Spirituality, a volume of essays edited by the Director of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, the Revd Dr Maurice Elliott, and CITI’s, Lecturer in Missiology, Dr Patrick McGlinchey. As well as the editors there are contributions from CITI staff members, Dr Bridget Nichols and the Revd Dr William Olhausen, and from others who have, in recent years, been associated with the Institute – Bishop Ken Good, Canon Christina Baxter and Adrian Chatfield. Recent students, all now in the ordained ministry, also make contributions – Rob Clements, Suzanne Cousins, Rebecca Guildea and Ian Mills – while there is an ecumenical dimension with essays from Augustinian Kieran O’Mahony OSA and Janet Unsworth of the Methodist Church. Glowing commendations from luminaries such as Craig Bartholomew, Liz Hoare, Bishop Harold Miller and Elaine Storkey suggest that this a must read book.
Eco–Congregation Ireland’s latest newsletter includes the story of how Carrigrohane parish (Cork, Cloyne & Ross) has been working intentionally towards being a sustainable congregation, a feature on bird–nesting boxes in nearby Carrigaline and the ecological notes of the Revd Trevor Sargent, newly instituted Rector of Bunclody.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times