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Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

New Year Reading

For those who have Christmas book tokens to redeem and for those for whom a New Year resolution is to read more, the last year has seen the publication of a member of books, which form a Church of Ireland perspective, should be of interest.

From the Church of Ireland Theological Institute came Perspectives on Prayer and Spirituality, a book of essay edited by two of the Institute’s staff, Canon Maurice Elliott and the Revd Dr Patrick McGlinchey and published in the USA by Wipf & Stock. Also from the Institute, but published by Church of Ireland Publishing, was St Patrick’s Pilgrimage. Journey to Place – Journey to God by the Revd Karen Salmon. This is the twelfth book in the Braemor Studies series which seeks to publish the best dissertation by a final student in CITI. At the other end of the academic scale, a new commentary on the  Gospel of St John, by the former Regius Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, Dublin–born David Ford, was published by SPCK.

On the historical front two books reflected the current interest in recent times. A Difficult Birth. The Early Years of Northern Ireland 1920–59 from the Dublin publisher, Eastwood Books, has been written by Belfast–born Anglican, Dr Alan Parkinson, who taught in London’s South Bank University. On the other side of the border, Southern Irish Loyalism, 1912–1949, from Liverpool University Press, is a book of essays edited by Brian Hughes  and Conor Morrison.

For those interested in architecture, Bishops and Buildings is a pictorial celebration of Armagh’s architecture and features many of the city’s familiar Church of Ireland edifices such as St Patrick’s cathedral, the Armagh Robinson Library and the Royal School. TCD is not the Anglican bastion that it once was but many Church of Ireland people, especially clergy, remained a vital part of College life. Andrew Somerville’s The Early Residential Buildings of Trinity College, Dublin is a handsomely illustrated book from Four Courts Press, which will inform those who had the good fortune to reside in College rooms, of the places and people who preceded them.

Staying with the educational theme. Áine Hyland’s A Brave New Vision for Education in Ireland is a study of the Dalkey School Project from 1974 until 1984, which was a pioneer multi–denominational school and the forerunner of Educate Together.

On a lighter note, Priest, the second ecclesiastical murder mystery by the former Rector of Rathfarnham, the Revd Ted Woods, has been publishedby the Lancashire–based Beaten Track Publishing.

Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 4pm in St Laserian’s cathedral, Old Leighlin, the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory, the Rt Revd Michael Burrows, will commission three readers. Andrew Pender will serve in Baltinglass, Thomas Cooke in Kilcooley and Heidi Good in Kilkenny.

The Bishop of Clogher, Dr Ian Ellis, has appointed the Revd Alison Irvine as Diocesan Curate. A native of Clogher Diocese, Ms Irvine attended Manchester University and, before her training for ordination, had a career with the trade union movement. She served as Deacon–Intern in Tullamore prior to her ordination to the priesthood by the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, in 2018. Ms Irvine has been serving as Curate Assistant in Dunboyne and Rathmolyon Unions in the Diocese of Meath and Kildare. She is from a well–known church family in Clogher Diocese; her father, John, is a Diocesan Reader and one of her brothers, Adrian, is a Parish Reader. Ms Irvine is expected to take up her post as Diocesan Curate in February 2022.

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