Irish Times Notes06 May 17

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

Tuam Church Drawings Digitize

One of the consequences of disestablishment was that the Church of Ireland retained custody of a large number of church buildings. After almost 150 years many of these buildings are no longer in use as places of worship – some are domestic residences, some have been converted to commercial or community use, some have been demolished and some have quietly become ruinous. However, while the Church no longer owns many of these buildings it has retained a considerable archive relating to them, much of which is held in the RCB Library in Dublin. Among these archives is a large body of architectural drawings, mostly dating from the mid–19th century, which has the potential to bring many of these buildings back to life.

Since 2011 the RCB Library, through the expertise of the architectural historian, Dr Michael O’Neill, has been cataloguing and digitizing these drawings and making them freely available to researchers through the Church of Ireland website. With the completion of the latest phase of the project, which has concentrated on the Diocese of Tuam, over 5,000 drawings have been made available online. They may be viewed at
https://archdrawing.ireland.anglican.org

Among the drawings are those of the diocese’s two glorious medieval buildings, St Mary’s cathedral, Tuam, and St Nicholas’ collegiate church, Galway, as well as other medieval churches still in use in the 1830s – Crossboyne, Dunmore, Headford, Kilconta, and possibly Moylough. Eighteenth–century churches were built at Ballinrobe, Drummonaghan, Kilkerrin, Ballincholla, with First Fruits churches at Annaghdown, Louisburgh and Westport built in the last years of that century.

Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 3.30pm the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at a service in Raheny parish church to celebrate 130 years in Ireland of the Mothers Union in Ireland. Lady Eames will give the address at this service. This service starts the ‘Mothers’ Union Way’ during which Phyllis Grothier, the MU President, intends to visit the twelve united diocese of the Church of Ireland over a two–week period.

In St Patrick’s cathedral, Trim, there will be an organ recital at 5pm in aid of the project to restore the Burne–Jones strained glass window of the Good Shepherd. The recitalist will be Maciej Zacrzewski from Gdansk. At 7pm there will be a Songs of Praise service in in St Ann’s church, Dublin. It will feature St Ann’s Church Choir, the Leinster Singers, the Seafield Singers, Classicus Youth Choir and the Dublin Male Voice Choir with the Steadfast Brass Band. The hymns will be introduced by former Archdeacon of Dublin, the Ven. Gordon Linney.

The Dublin & Glendalough retired clergy will meet on Tuesday in St Paul’s church, Glenageary, where the Bishop of Limerick will talk on the subject of ethics.

On Wednesday Canon Ian Ellis, Rector of Newcastle, Co. Down, will represent the Church of Ireland at the annual general meeting of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, to be held in Manchester. Canon Ellis is convener of the Anglican and Ecumenical Affairs Working Group of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue.

A major project that has transformed the Cathedral Hall in Enniskillen is now complete and the official re–opening and dedication will take place next Wednesday evening. The refurbishment of the popular facility which is used by many organisations throughout the community, has been part funded by The Executive Office’s Social Investment Fund.

The old Cathedral Hall which still formed the basis for this new renovation, was officially opened in 1964 which in turn replaced the Parochial Hall built in 1922.