Irish Times Notes14 Sep 19

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

Vocation Sunday

Tomorrow (Sunday) has been designated as Vocation Sunday This is a day to enable the whole Church of Ireland to reflect – prayerfully and practically – on how on how we as a Church nurture and foster vocations.

This will be followed up by a retreat at the Dromantine Retreat Centre, Newry, in February 2020, to give participants space and time to think about the call of God and help them to explore vocation further.

It’s also an opportunity to broaden the conversation about vocations to all forms of ministry, whether lay or ordained, right across the Church of Ireland.

You can check out a video, which shares stories of how people have listened to God’s call.  A range of articles and information, to help to discern and explore a call, is also up online at vocations.ireland.anglican.org

Today (Saturday) the RCB Library in conjunction with Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise will mark the opening of the Irish language book collection of the late Bishop Donald Caird which has been donated to the RCB Library by his widow, Nancy. Included in the collection is the Buaiteoir Ghradam an Phiarsaigh which was awarded to Bishop Caird in 2010. This supplements an earlier generous donation of theological and historical works from Bishop Caird’s library.

In the afternoon, at 2pm, the AGM of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise (Irish Guild of the Church) will be held in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. The current Cathaoirleach  of the Cumann is the Revd Trevor Sargent and the Development Officer, from whom more about the Cumann may be had, is Ms Caroline Nolan (gaeleaglais@gmail.com).

A recent publication which reflects something of the place of the Irish language in the Church of Ireland is A Gaelic History of East Belfast which has been written by Dr Gordon McCoy who was a Cross Community Officer for the Ultach Trust and subsequently Irish Language Education Officer of Turas. Among the personalities who are profiled are Bishop Donald Caird who was a curate in St Mark’s, Dundela, in the early 1950s, and Canon Cosslett Quin who was Rector of St Mark’s from 1932 to 1935. Attractively designed by Wendy Dunbar, this is a good introduction to a little known subject.

On Thursday at 3pm the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at the Secondary Schools Annual Service in St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin. In the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Clane, the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Revd Pat Storey, will introduce the Revd Ruth O’Kelly as part–time priest–in–charge of the Clane union of parishes which is composed of Clane, Donadea and Coolcarrigan. Ms O’Kelly, who was ordained in2014, has been curate in Rathfarnham since 2015.

The series of lunchtime lectures which highlight recent research on Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, in 21st century dictionaries and encyclopedias, continues in the cathedral on Friday. Terry Clavin from the Royal Irish Academy will speak about the Dictionary of Irish Biography.

The inaugural Galbraith Cup bell ringing competition took place recently in Christ Church, Taney. The eight bell open ringing competition attracted eight teams from towers as far afield as Cork and Limerick in the south and Drumbo and Bangor in the north. The cup was donated by veteran bell ringer, Cyril Galbraith who has been ringing for 80 years. Cyril’s longevity as a bell ringer, first in St Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick and later St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin before finally moving to Taney where he continues to ring, saw him shoot to fame earlier this year when he was hailed as Ireland’s oldest bell ringer.