Irish Times Notes27 Apr 20

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

New Primate

Last month the Rt Revd John McDowell, Bishop of Clogher, was elected by the House of Bishops as the new Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in succession to Archbishop Richard Clarke who retired on 2 February. His translation from Clogher to Armagh was fixed for 28 April and so takes effect next Tuesday. However, due to the current restrictions he will remain resident for the time being in the See House in Fivemiletown, where in addition to being Archbishop of Armagh he will also exercise an oversight of the Diocese of Clogher. No date has yet been set for his enthronement in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh.

The new Primate is a native of East Belfast where his faith was nurtured in Mount Merrion parish where the rector was the late Canon Billy Neely. He was schooled locally, initially in Rosetta Primary School, and then in Annadale Grammar School and is among the school’s high achievers. He was an exact contemporary of his brother, who until recently was Chancellor of the University of South Australia, and the Maynooth historian, Professsor Raymond Gillespie. Ahead of him in school was the poet Tom Paulin, a fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, and his brother, Oswyn, a prominent member of the Northern Ireland legal profession and currently a member of the RCB’s Library & Archive Committee.

Annadale was followed by Queen’s University where he read history, and then into business where his potential was recognized by his employers, Shorts Bombardier, who sent him to the London School of Economics for further study.

After testing his vocation in the Church of Ireland Theological College, he was ordained in 1996 for the curacy of Antrim and in 1999 was appointed Rector of Ballyrashane & Kildollagh. He moved from the Diocese of Connor to the Diocese of Down in 2002 when he was appointed to the east Belfast parish of Dundela. In the parish of CS Lewis and JC Beckett he became part of a sophisticated liturgical tradition, while a period as an honorary secretary of the General Synod introduced him to the machinations of the councils of the Church at its highest level.

Some were surprised at his election to the See of Clogher in 2011, seeing him as a natural successor to Houston McKelvey as Dean of Belfast, but he has more than fulfilled the confidence of the electors in his careful oversight of a cross–border diocese. Further afield he was a sensitive chairman of the General Synod’s Centenaries Working Group and is currently Chairman of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity & Dialogue and a calm voice in the often rancorous Brexit debate.

The new Primate will be will be the 106th in the succession of abbots, bishops and archbishops of Armagh since St Patrick, following, among others, James Ussher, Richard Robinson, Lord John George Beresford, John Allen Fitzgerald Gregg, George Otto Simms and Robin Eames. Few doubt that he will prove a worthy successor.

The deadline for the receipt of applications for a new round of Clergy Daughters’ School grants is close. Educational grants for the academic year 2020–2021 are available for the daughters of the Church of Ireland Clergy, who are in Secondary Schools (1st –6th Year) or in Universities or other Third Level Colleges. Application forms are available at: clergydaughters@gmail.com or from the C.D.S. Secretary, Mrs Caroline Cummins, 7 The Avenue, Rathdale, Enfield, Co. Meath, and should be returned, when completed, to arrive by 30th April.