Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Book profits presented to charity
Last November Ashfield Press published Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising by the late Valerie Jones. A former lecturer at the Church of Ireland College of Education and Diocesan Communications Officer for Dublin & Glendalough. Dr Jones died in February 2014 and the book was brought to fruition by her daughter Heather, Associate Professor in History at the London School of Economics, and her son Mark. Its publication was supported by the Church of Ireland’s Historical Centenaries Working Group as one of its contributions to marking the centenaries of 1916 and by the General Synod Royalties Fund.
The book provides the first overall study of the role of Protestant radical nationalists in planning, and participating in, the Easter Rising and reveals that a far larger number were involved than previously known. The revolutionary generation of 1916 spanned the deep religious divisions in the Ireland of the time – while still a predominantly Catholic uprising, the 1916 rebellion was more religiously diverse than its later historical image suggests. This study reveals the significant contribution of Irish radical Protestants to the Rising and their fate in the new Irish Free State.
Heather and Mark decided that the royalties from the book should be presented to the Irish Cancer Society and, on the recommendation of the Literature Committee, the Standing Committee of the General Synod agreed that the profits from the sale of the book in the on–line book store on the Church of Ireland website should also be given to the Society. These presentations were made earlier this month.
Ashfield Press have kept the book in print and so Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising is still available to order through the Church of Ireland Online Bookstore. (https://store.ireland.anglican.org/store/product/120/rebel-prods-the-forgotten-story-of)
Tomorrow, (Sunday) morning in Christ Church, cathedral, Dublin, the Cathedral Eucharist will be sung by In Cantorum, a choral group based in Athy and co–founded by Dean Philip Knowles and Eileen Doyle. In St Patrick’s cathedral the services will be sung by the choir of St Paul’s parish, Glenageary.
Next Thursday evening at 8pm the Irish Guitar Quartet will give a recital in St Barrahene’s church, Castletownshend, Co. Cork, and the guitar theme will continue in Dublin on Friday when Gerard Boyle and Luke Tobin will play classical and world music for two guitars in Sandford parish church, Ranelagh, at 1.10pm.
On Friday evening Duo Chagall (Arun Rao, cello and Gillian Williams, violin) together with Lance Coburn, piano, will perform Schumann’s Piano trio in G Minor, Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello and Brahms’ Piano Trio in B in Calary Church, Co Wicklow, at 8 pm. Tickets can be booked from John at (01) 2818146 or derekneilson@eircom.net
The Church of Ireland Theological Institute has announced the appointment of Dr Bridget Nichols to the post of Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy which she will take up at the end of July. Dr Nichols completed undergraduate and graduate studies in South Africa and has a doctorate in Literature and Theology from the University of Durham. She has lectured at Durham and the University of Sunderland and has been a Visiting Scholar at Sarum College, Salisbury. Her research interests include psalter collects and the nature of liturgical language. Dr Nichols has served as chaplain to the Bishop of Ely and as a member of the Ely Diocesan Vocations Advisers’ Team, and writes a column on the weekly Sunday readings for the Church Times.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times