Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Rebel Prods Book Launch
A new book entitled Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising by the late Dr Valerie Jones, will be launched by the former Archbishop of Dublin, the Rt Revd Walton Empey, in the Treasury, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, next Monday evening at 6.30pm.
The book, brought to fruition by Dr Valerie Jones’s daughter, Dr Heather Jones, an Associate Professor in History at the London School of Economics, has been published by Ashfield Press and has been supported by the Church of Ireland’s Historical Centenaries Working Group as one of its several contributions to marking the centenary of 1916.
The outgoing Chairman on the Historical Centenaries Working Group, the Rt Revd John McDowell, has observed that ‘one of the objectives of more or less everyone who has been involved in the Decade of Centenaries has been to explore the complexity of Irish history during this crucial period. Many people are aware of the involvement of well known, and often well connected, Irish Protestants in radical politics during the revolutionary period. However, there were others whose participation on the republican side are much less well known, or barely known at all but whose stories deserve to be told and reflected upon. This book fills a gap in the scholarship of that period and should also be of interest to a much wider readership who, once again, history will surprise.’
Valerie Jones was an Irish language enthusiast and a dedicated and singularly effective Communications Officer for the dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning in St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick, the 50th anniversary of the ordination former Dean of Limerick, the Very Revd Maurice Sirr, will be celebrated in the context of the 11.15am Eucharist. In the afternoon at 4.15pm in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh, there will be an organ recital by Orly Watson who will play works by Bach and Caesar Franck, and this will be followed at 5.30pm by the William Kennedy Piping Festival Service. In St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, the annual Huguenot Commemoration Evensong will be held at 3.15pm and at 8pm the Gaudete Singers, conducted by David Leigh, will have a 40th anniversary concert in the Lady Chapel with music by Dering, Philips and Sweelinck.
Continuing the music theme, on Tuesday, there will be ‘Music for St Cecilia’s Day’ at 7.30pm in St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen, featuring Church Hill Silver Band, the Fermanagh Choral Society and Fermanagh Concert Band. Admission will be free but donations will be accepted for funds for the music societies and Syrian refugees (Singing for Syrians).
From Monday until Thursday the Archbishop of Dublin will be leading the Dublin & Glendalough Clergy Retreat in the Anglican Centre in Rome. This event has been organized by the Rector of Drumcondra & North Strand, the Revd Garth Bunting.
On Thursday evening at 7.30pm the annual Rokeby Lecture will be held in Archbishop Robinson’s Armagh Public Library. Dr Charles Dillon, editor of the Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of the Irish Language, will speak on ‘Hidden Gems: Irish Language Material in the Collection of Armagh Public Library’
An All–Ireland Prayer Vigil to raise awareness of 16 Days of Activism against Gender–based Violence has been organised by Dublin–Glendalough Mothers’ Union, and will take place in St Brigid’s Church, Stillorgan, between 10.30 am and noon on 26 November. MU members and non–members are encouraged to drop in at anytime. Guest speakers will inform those present about their work among those who are most affected by gender–based abuse.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times