Christ Church Cathedral in association with Young Hearts Run Free have donated over €7,000 to the Dublin Simon Community through its Dublin Outreach 2014 campaign to help alleviate difficulties faced by those experiencing homelessness, as part of its commitment to the organisation. 

The donation is a result of a concert organised by Christ Church Cathedral, in association with Young Hearts Run Free and Note Productions, featuring a host of Irish and international musicians. It featured a stellar line–up including the great folk singer from Glasgow, Alasdair Roberts (Drag City), the legendary Dónal Lunny, Iarla Ó’Lionáird and emerging artists ANDERSON, NiamhMcCormackSings and Matthew Nolan (3Epkano). The special guest for the evening was the Canadian singer/songwriter, Spencer Krug.

 “We were delighted to be able to support such a worthwhile cause,” Bernie Murphy, Managing Director of Christ Church Cathedral, said. “The Dublin Simon community are a very important charity and do such fantastic work in the homeless sector. It was a privilege to be a vital part of Simon fundraising endeavours for 2014.” 

Sam McGuinness, from Dublin Simon Community, thanked everyone who attended, organised and participated in the concert, which took place on in the cathedral on New Year’s Eve. “Your support not only raises critical funds, it brings us together to help people who are homeless or at risk. With your help we can continue to provide services to those most in need and enable them to move to a place they can call home,” he said.

Photo caption: Managing Director of Christ Church Cathedral, Bernie Murphy and Chief Executive of Dublin Simon Community, Sam McGuinness.

(Irish version below)

On April 29 2014, 100 years to the day when Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise held its inaugural meeting in St Ann’s Parish Hall, Dawson Street, Dublin, there will be a celebration of the Eucharist in St Ann’s Church (pictured) at 6.00pm, followed by refreshments and a talk on the Irish Guild of the Church of Ireland in the Parish Hall.

Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise will also be launching its commemorative programme of events to mark this significant milestone in the history of the Church of Ireland.

The Right Reverend Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory and Patron of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise will celebrate Holy Communion, using the parallel text service book, An Chomaoineach Naofa agus Seirbhísí de chuid Eaglais na hÉireann, in St Ann’s at 6.00pm.  He will be assisted by Canon David Gillespie, Vicar of St Ann’s Church. 

Commenting on the centenary, Bishop Michael Burrows, said:“Amid all the many centenaries being commemorated in the Church of Ireland in this and coming years the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise must not be overlooked. Its ideals remain as important as ever they were and in today’s Ireland where there is so much stress on inclusivity and cultural richness they offer fresh opportunities to enrich our shared spiritual journey.”

According to the earliest minute book of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise, which is kept in the RCB Library, the inaugural meeting of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise was held in St Ann’s Parish Hall on 29 April 1914, with the kind permission of Canon Day and there was a good attendance. The Bishop of Tuam was elected President, and the Bishop of Limerick, the Bishop of Cork, the Lord Chief Justice and the Dean of St Patrick’s were all elected as Vice Presidents.

An Executive Committee was also elected comprised of the Revd Canon Day, Mr Dix, Mrs Dix, Ms Dobbs, Mr James Duncan, Mr George Irvine, the Revd Prof Murphy, the Revd James Ó Connor, Mr GA Ruth, Ms Isabella Tuckey, the Revd WE Vendeleur and Ms Una Young. There were many apologies including one from Sir Roger Casement.

Two earlier meetings in January and February had agreed upon the name of the organisation as Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise, with the explanatory sub–title “for promoting Irish ideals in the National Church”, and the four main aims of the organisation were set out as:

1.     To promote all that tends to preserve within the Church of Ireland the spirit of the ancient Celtic Church and to provide a bond of union for all members of the Church of Ireland inspired with Irish ideals,

2.      To promote the use of the Irish language in the public Services of the Church in Irish speaking districts and in other areas where the Language may be authorized.

3.     To collect from Irish sources suitable hymns and other devotional literature,

4.     To encourage the use of Irish art and  Irish music in the Church, and whatever goes to enrich its national character.

The programme of events to commemorate the centenary of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise include an outdoor service in Milltown Cemetery, Co Kerry, at the graveside of Mr and Mrs Ruth on May 3 2014 at 5.00 pm and the launch of a biography of the former Archbishop of Dublin, the Right Reverend Dr Donald Caird on July 26 in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. A special event is also being organised in Áras an Uachtaráin.

Further details of these and other events will be available on www.gaeleaglais.ie and www.facebook.com/Gaeleaglais

Ag Comóradh an Chéid. 100 Bliain slánaithe ag Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise.

Fuair Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise leithscéal ón Ridire Ruairí Mac Easmainn agus ón Tiarna Príomh–Bhreitheamh agus toghadh Easpag Thuama mar Uachtarán.

Beidh Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise ag comóradh an chéid, 29 Aibreán 2014, i dTeampall Naomh Áine, Sráid Dawson, ar an lá céanna agus san áit chéanna ina raibh an chéad chruinniú oifigiúil de Chumann Gaelach na hEaglaise 29 Aibreán 1914. Ceiliúrfar an Eocairist ar 6.00pm i dTeampall Naomh Áine agus beidh sólaistí agus léacht ar Chumann Gaelach na hEaglaise i Halla Paróiste Naomh Áine ina dhiaidh.   Beidh Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise ag fógairt a Chlár Comórtha d’imeachtaí a bheidh ag tarlú fud fad na tíre chun an bhliain shuntasach seo ina shaolré a comóradh.

Beidh an tEaspag Michael Burrows, Deoise Chaisil, Fearna agus Osraí, agus Earlamh Chumann Gaelach na hEaglaise, i mbun na seirbhíse, agus é ag baint úsáide as an leabhar seirbhíse dátheangach An Chomaoineach Naofa agus Seirbhísí de chuid Eaglais na hÉireann.  Beidh an Canónach David Gillespie, Teampall Naomh Áine ag cabhrú leis.  

Dúirt an tEaspag Burrows;

“ agus comóradh céid oiread sin imeachtaí á dtabhairt chun cuimhne in Eaglais na hÉireann i mbliana agus sna blianta beaga atá romhainn amach ná dearmadaimis bunú Chumann Gaelach na hEaglaise céad bliain ó shin. Tá a chuid idéal chomh tábhachtach is a bhíodar riamh agus in Éirinn an lae inniu mar a bhfuil oiread sin béime ar uileghabháltacht agus ar shaibhreas cultúrtha soláthraíonn siad deiseanna úra dúinn chun ár n–aistear spioradálta a shaibhriú’. 

De réir na miontuairiscí, atá i seilbh Leabharlann RCB, thug an Canónach Day cead don Chumann an chéad chruinniú a reáchtáil i Halla Paróiste Naomh Áineagus bhí slua breá ann.  Toghadh Easpag Thuama mar Uachtarán agus bhí Easpag Luimnigh, Easpag Chorcaí agus an Tiarna Príomh–Bhreitheamh tofa mar Leas–Uachtaráin .

Toghadh Coiste Gnó: An Canónach Oir. Day, an tUas. Dix, Bean Dix, Iníon Dobbs, an tUas. James Duncan, an tUas. George Irvine, an tOll. Oir. Murphy, an tOir. James Ó Connor, an tUas. G. A. Ruth, Iníon Isabella Tuckey, an tOir. W.E. Vendeleur, agus Iníon Una Young. Fuarthas roinnt leithscéal, ina measc leithscéal ó Ruairí Mac Easmainn.

Roghnóidh an t–ainm and na haidhmeanna ag dhá cruinniú roimhe sin. Roghnaíodar an t–ainm Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise le fotheideal, “ ag cothú an Ghaelachais in Eaglais na hÉireann”, agus leag siad síos spriocanna an Chumainn mar;

1.      Meon na Sean–Eaglaise Ceiltí a choimeád beo in Eaglais na hÉireann agus baill na hEaglaise a chuireann spéis sa Ghaelachas a bhailiú le chéile,

2.     Úsáid na Gaeilge a leathnú i seirbhísí na hEaglaise i gceantair Gaelachais agus i gceantair eile údaraithe,

3.     Iomainn agus ábhar diaga eile a bhailiú ó litríocht na Gaeilge agus

4.     Ceol agus ealaíon Éireannach a chur ar aghaidh in imeachtaí na hEaglaise.

I measc ár gClár Imeachtaí beidh seirbhís i reilig Bhaile an Mhuilinn, Co. Chiarraí, ag uaigh an Uas. Ruth is a mhná, 3 Bealtaine 2014 ag 5.00pm agus beidh seoladh leabhair, beathaisnéis an Dr. Dónall Caird, Iar–Ardeaspag Bhaile Átha Cliath, 26 Iúil in Ardteampall Chríost, Baile Átha Cliath. Beidh ócáid speisialta ag comóradh an chéid in Áras an Uachtaráin freisin. Beidh tuilleadh eolais ar fáil ar www.gaeleaglais.ie agus ar www.facebook.com/gaeleaglais   

A six month cycle through Africa undertaken by four young professionals, who all attend Holy Trinity, Rathmines, is entering its final days. Kyle Petrie, Sadhbh McKenna, Niamh Allen and Antonio Isidro Carrion Martin are cycling from Cairo to Cape Town, a distance of over 11,000 kilometres, to raise funds for Medicine Sans Frontiers and Room to Read.

Their journey is nearly complete. They have travelled through 11 countries and have only six days left before they reach their ?nal destination, Cape Town.

The group, three from Ireland and one from Spain, left Dublin on September 18 last year and their journey has taken them through sand storms in the Western Desert of Egypt; down the Nile Valley where, in the wrong place at the wrong time, they were beaten from their bikes with wooden sticks; to the tea houses of Sudan where they were forbidden from paying for their tea by the warm and generous Sudanese; up into the highlands of Ethiopia where the feral mountain children battered them with stones; to Nairobi where they celebrated Christmas morning with a thousand singing and dancing Kenyans; pushing their bikes south through days of sand on ‘The Great Road North’ in Tanzania; to relax on the untouched shores of lake Malawi; 150km and 2,000 meters up on their toughest cycling day in Zambia; to the thundering Victoria Falls where they were soaked by the sky high spray; to experience a cycle safari in Botswana, with elephants on the roadside and lions calling at night; to the wilderness of the Kalahari desert in Namibia where they were back to the desert challenge of calculating water logistics; to their final stretch, anticipating Table Mountain appearing on the horizon; the end in sight.

The theme of their journey has been the overwhelming hospitality that they have received. The people that they met took them in, gave them tea, put them up, semi adopted them, passed them cold drinks out of car windows, offered them water and enabled them to reach this final stretch of their journey.

On a continent of bad news stories these four young professionals from their post recession countries experienced a new narrative of hopefulness. Cycling through Africa they received incredible hospitality from people with so little who are content with what they have and are happy to give whatever they can to help strangers on their journey. They are coming home with a message relevant to a post Celtic Tiger Ireland – that giving and hospitality can exist no matter what the circumstance and that bad news stories can be countered by hope filled people. That is their journey, their hope–filled *safari. (*safari means journey in Swahili). 

Follow them as they count down the final days to Cape Town at www.rotharafrica.org, @rotharafrica, fb: rothar africa or rothar–africa.tumblr.com.

Arklow Presbyterian Church was the venue for the 91st annual meeting of the Irish Council of Churches (ICC) which took place today (April 10). During the meeting the Revd Dr Donald Watts, Clerk of the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, was elected as President of the ICC. This position is the most senior ecumenical role in Ireland and Dr Watts succeeds the Revd Fr Godfrey O’Donnell of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Speaking at his installation, Dr Watts encouraged the churches to be forward looking and confident in their life and ministry. He evoked the words of Queen Elizabeth II during this historic week, in which she insisted that citizens of Britain and Ireland “no longer allow our past to ensnare our future”.

Suggesting that the churches in Ireland also take up this theme, that they cannot and must not be held by the past, Dr Watts suggested that “we, as Christian people, must be determined by the future, a future that Jesus has created for us, not one we have inherited from others”. He encouraged those present to “walk confidently and joyfully towards a future determined for us by Jesus’ death and resurrection”. 

The newly installed President also spoke of his pleasure at the annual meeting being held in the Republic of Ireland. He pointed to an emerging trend of differences not only between the Christian traditions, but also within the denominations, north and south of the border, and outlined a vision for his presidency, whereby the ICC as an organisation could work towards ensuring that these divisions were overcome.

The installation took place during a service led by Arklow Presbyterian Minister, the Revd Michael Anderson. His local clerical counterparts Canon Martin Cosgrove, Roman Catholic; Canon Nigel Sherwood, Church of Ireland; and the Revd Ivor Owens, Methodist, also participated. 

Afternoon discussions centred round the theme of the ‘Theology of the Remnant’. Frances Young, Emeritus Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology at Birmingham University, gave the keynote address entitled, ‘From Holy Remnant to Exile and Aliens’. President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Revd Dr Heather Morris, in her role as responder, urged churches to echo the character of God in the world, as “the very concept of remnant points beyond itself to something greater”. Delegates then divided into groups to discuss how they might transfer the knowledge and insight gained from today’s session into their own mission and ministry.

Dr Watts will hold the presidency until 2016, at which time the Rt Revd John McDowell, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher and current ICC Vice–President, will assume the role.

Photo caption: The newly installed president of the Irish Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Donald and outgoing President, the Revd Fr Godfrey O’Donnell pictured with clergy in Arklow. L–R: Canon Nigel Sherwood, the Revd Ivor Owens, Canon Martin Cosgrove, the Revd Dr Donald Watts, the Revd Fr Godfrey O’Donnell and the Revd Michael Anderson.

By Jemima Hurley (one of the ‘newly confirmed’)

The 2014 confirmation class held the Sunday service on March 23 in Sandford Parish Church. We organised the service ourselves with suggestions from Reverend Gyles. We discussed and chose the theme of ‘inclusion and accepting everyone in our society’. 

The idea arose after a number of the confirmation class mentioned that the services were not often aimed at our age group and we were given the opportunity to change this. We chose the hymns and wrote the prayers ourselves. The readings chosen were about the inclusion of everyone, and how Jesus never judged others. 

The service was led by Robbie Comiskey and Lily Magahy and the address was given on the theme by Jake Kennedy and Jemima Hurley. We played a song called Same Love by Macklemore. This song tells us about a boy who cannot change who he is for anyone even if he tried or wanted to. Robbie Comiskey played his guitar and sang Free by Rudimental and Xavier Altzinger sang the song Angel by Sarah McLachlan. We learned during this experience what is involved in preparing a service and how much work is involved.

There were lots of charities we thought should receive the collection and we chose the Irish Cancer Society. Zanna O’Riordan spoke about the work of ICS. 

The service was well received by the congregation and it was nice to get such a good reaction. It was a worthwhile task and gave us all a better understanding of our Church and its importance as we mature.

We would like to thank Reverend Gyles for all her help over the weeks before the service and for guiding us through our Confirmation preparation.

Photo caption: The newly confirmed of Sandford and St Philip’s pictured with their Rector, the Revd Sonia Gyles, following the service they took themselves.

Motorcycle enthusiast, the Revd Andrew McCroskery (pictured) and his biking colleague, the Revd Nigel Kirkpatrick, will be taking to the road this summer to mark the 300th anniversary of the United Society (formerly USPG). Andrew, who is Rector of St Bartholomew’s and Christ Church Leeson Park in Dublin and Nigel, who is Rector of Gilnahirk, Belfast, will travel on their motorbikes to every cathedral in the Church of Ireland during the first 10 days of August.

This is an important year for Us. and Andrew and Nigel hope to raise a significant amount of money to help important projects, particularly in Swaziland. They also hope the raise the profile of the work of the United Society and the Church of Ireland cathedrals they visit. More information can be found about the work of Us. in Swaziland at http://www.lindaatuspg.blogspot.ie.

The duo’s journey will start and finish at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast. They will start from Belfast on August 1 and continue to Christ Church Lisburn, Dromore and Armagh. On August 2 they will visit Kilmore, Clogher and Enniskillen. On August 3 they can be found at Derry, Raphoe, Sligo, Killala. Tuam, Kilfenora, Clonfert and Killaloe will be the destinations on August 4. On August 5 they will be in Limerick and Rosscarberry. On August 6 they will be at the cathedrals in Cork, Cloyne and Lismore. Waterford and Cashel will be visited on August 7. On August 8 they will be in Kilkenny, Leighlin, Ferns. Andrew and Nigel will be in Dublin on August 9 before going to Kildare and Trim. On August 10 they will go to Downpatrick before returning to St Anne’s, Belfast. Any and all bikers are welcome to join them for the day on any part of the tour in exchange for a small donation to the United Society.

Andrew and Nigel expect to be in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin at 10.00 am on Saturday August 9 and in Christ Church Cathedral at 11.00 am on the same day. One of them will lead a short service in each of the cathedrals.

Andrew and Nigel will be posting regular updates on their Facebook and Twitter accounts which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/bikerson.amission.9 and https://twitter.com/BikersOnMission.

An evening of celebration in St Michael’s Church, Athy, ensured a warm welcome for the new Rector of the parish. The Revd Olive Donohoe was instituted as the Rector of Athy and Kilberry by Archbishop Michael Jackson yesterday evening (Friday April 11).

The church was full of parishioners, both from her new parish and her former parish of Stradbally, along with family, friends and well wishers. The congregation included Bishop Walton Empey, former Archbishop of Dublin and clergy from neighbouring parishes as well as representatives of both the Roman Catholic and Methodist communities in Athy. Also present was Alice Leahy of Trust, the Dublin homelessness charity which Olive has supported for some years. Dean Philip Knowles, formerly Dean of Cashel, took part in the service.

Introducing the service, Archbishop Jackson said he was delighted to welcome Olive to the parish and to the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. “This is an auspicious occasion for the Church of Ireland in Athy. An Institution is always a joyous occasion as a member of the clergy takes up a new responsibility which is at the heart of Church life,” he said.

The humorous, touching and inspiring sermon, which resulted in spontaneous applause at the end, was delivered by the Archdeacon of Tuam, Canon Gary Hastings. He said that the parish was getting a bargain with their new Rector. He described Olive as a “very able lady” who was kind, compassionate, wise and could get things done.

He said that institutions could be worrying events for both the new Rector and parishioners. The Rector may worry if she had made the right choice and if there could be “an unexploded parishioner” who had been harbouring a grudge for generations waiting around the corner. Although he conceded that those in Athy looked reasonable. Parishioners may worry also, wondering if she would listen to them, engage with them and get involved, but he reassured them that she would.

Canon Hastings said that many people did not know what the job of the Rector entailed and believed that they only worked on Sundays. However, he outlined a huge range of skills needed, from counselling to a basic knowledge of animal husbandry. Somewhere near the bottom of the list came Jesus, he stated but said that none of the rest of the work was possible without Jesus.

“The Church is about people. People minding each other, loving each other, praying with each other and everything else should come after that,” he stated. “Her real job is to pray – to pray for you, with you, to teach you to pray and to be beside you [at points of celebration and points of crisis]. This girl has been around a few corners and has a lot to teach you. She is on your side and that is the side of Christ.” He asked her new parishioners to remember that Olive is a human being and urged them to look after her so that she could look after them.

After the service in Athy Parish Centre, Rural Dean, the Revd Leonard Ruddock, praised the team effort that went into running the parish during the vacancy.

Niall Perry, secretary of the Select Vestry, explained that following the departure of their previous Rector, the Revd Cliff Jeffers, they took the opportunity to take stock of all the good work that had been done. He said that he felt, with the appointment of Olive, that they could build on that sound base.

Fr Tim Hannon, representing the local Roman Catholic parish, spoke about the building of relationships within the community and wished Olive every blessing. Methodist Minister, the Revd Bill Olmsted, agreed with the preacher’s assessment of Olive, adding that she worked extremely hard and was a “priest, a pastor and a very good friend. Deputy Jack Wall said it was wonderful for Athy to have a new rector and wished Olive well.

Olive thanked her new parishioners for the warm welcome and thanked them for making her feel at home so soon. She thanked Canon Hastings for his sermon and said it was lovely to be so happy together in church.

Archbishop Michael Jackson concluded proceedings by saying that visitors to the parish had gained a “real sense of the warmth that was at the heart of the community in Athy”. He said that Olive was a warm and compassionate person who loved being with other people. He paid tribute to the Revd Leonard Ruddock for the efforts he put into making the evening go seamlessly and wished the parish and Olive well as they entered Holy Week with the opportunity it presented for the rector to meet her parishioners at this powerful time in the Christian calendar.

Photo captions:

Top: The Revd Olive Donohoe and Archbishop Michael Jackson.

Bottom: The Revd Olive Donohoe and some of parish’s church wardens.

Two new Lay Ministers were commissioned this morning (Sunday April 13) to serve in their parishes and in the wider Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. David Reynolds from Bray and Helen Gorman from Grangegorman were commissioned by Archbishop Michael Jackson in All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman.

The Palm Sunday service began with a Blessing of the Palms by the Archbishop. Children then distributed the palm crosses to the congregation. The Archbishop also dedicated a funeral pall during the service.

Following the service Archbishop Jackson thanked the congregation and Archdeacon David Pierpoint for their welcome and the work that had gone into preparing the service. He said it was a great joy to be present at the start of two new ministries in the dioceses and wished them well. 

Both Helen and David had already been commissioned as Parish Readers.

David Reynolds is a long–time parishioner of Christ Church Bray, interrupted by a 10 year sojourn in Amsterdam. After a long career in IT, David is now CEO of DCM Services to the Older Person, part of the Methodist Dublin Central Mission. He is also on the Boards of Delgany National School and CMS Ireland, and an active supporter of Fields of Life. He and his wife Carol have a daughter, Alison, a research geneticist and a son, Mark, a London–based lawyer.

Helen Gorman is married to Fran and the couple have a son and a daughter. Helen trained as a literacy tutor and worked as a volunteer teaching adults to read and write. Her parish church is All Saint’s Grangegorman, in Phibsboro’ which is part of the Christchurch Cathedral group of parishes. She has worshipped there all her life and was baptised and married there. Recently she has been vicar’s church warden and then people’s church warden and has been a member of the select vestry. She completed the Archbishop of Dublin’s course in theology in 2010 and following that began training for the Lay Ministry.

Photo captions:

Top: David Reynolds and Helen Gorman with Archbishop Michael Jackson.

Bottom: David Reynolds and Helen Gorman cut a cake made to mark their commissioning as Lay Ministers.

The Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin will once again lead a procession of the cross through the streets of Dublin city centre on Good Friday, April 18.

The Ecumenical Walk of Witness, now in its third year, sees Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin carry a cross from Christ Church Cathedral to St Mary’s Pro Cathedral in an act of visible witness on this highly significant day in the Christian calendar.

People of all Christian traditions are invited to come together to pray and join the Archbishops as they journey across the city presenting a public sign of the churches’ work and witness together in the wider community.

Once again the evening will begin with a prayer service in Christ Church Cathedral on Good Friday evening. People will gather at 7.00 pm for a short service at 7.15 pm before departing at 7.30 pm. Led by the two Archbishops who will jointly carry the Taizé Cross, they will walk to St Mary’s Pro Cathedral on Marlborough Street where they will join a Taizé prayer service around the cross.

The walk covers a distance of approximately two kilometres.

Photo caption: Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin are pictured leading the first Good Friday procession down Dame Street in 2012.

Residents, staff, family and friends of St Mary’s Home have collaborated to produce a wonderful new recipe book. The book, which contains a vast array of recipes from around the globe, was launched on Friday evening, April 11, in the home.

The 40 recipes featured in this lovely recipe book were all cooked in the kitchen of St Mary’s Home to be tried and tested. They were then carefully prepared and presented for photographing and incorporated in the book which was launched at a reception in St Mary’s Home by Archdeacon Gordon Linney, chairman of the trustees of the home. The event was attended by a large gathering of residents, staff, families, friends and supporters. Emma Moran, the head chef, had prepared a number of recipes from the book for the approval of the guests.

Many of the residents have contributed recipes to the book, as has the Vicar of St Bartholomew’s, the Revd Andrew McCroskery, who is chaplain to the home and celebrates Holy Communion in the chapel under the watchful eye of Sister Verity Anne.

Thanks are due to Anne Marie Newman, whose original idea led to the book being produced; Gillie, Peter and Ross Hinds who coordinated the production of the book; Edwin Davison who took the beautiful photographs; Emma Moran, head chef, and her team, who cooked all the recipes, and all who helped or sponsored the book.

St Mary’s Home in Ballsbridge was founded in 1891 as a school. Later it became a home for retired ladies of the Church of Ireland, or those in communion with the Anglican Church.

For 100 years it was under the supervision and management of Anglican nuns from the Community of St John the Evangelist. Two of the sisters, Sister Kathleen and Sister Verity Anne, are today residents in the Home and both have contributed recipes to the book. St Mary’s Home is today run under trustees appointed by the sisters and provides a home for 25 to 30 ladies who greatly appreciate the tradition of Christian care established by the sisters.

Copies of the book are available from St Mary’s Home, Pembroke Park, Dublin 4 at €10 each plus postage.

Photo caption: Peter Hinds, who worked on the layout and design; Edwin Davison, who took the photographs; and Archdeacon Gordon Linney, Trustee of St Mary’s Home, who launched the Recipe Book

Easter Day gives us one of the most beautiful expressions of joy and gladness that there is in the Christian tradition. Resurrection is not only something done to Jesus and by Jesus, it is also a new gift given by God to the creation as we make the move from old life through death in Christ to new life with Christ. And so we seek to come to terms with all that is new in life itself. Every year we are given the opportunity to come through the sorrow and the sadness of Holy Week, the betrayal and the bitterness of The Passion to the triumph of life over death in The Resurrection.

Sunday is, therefore, a special day. Every Sunday is a celebration of resurrection. It is for this reason that Sunday is so life–giving and life–affirming in the Christian life and in the way of following Jesus in our own daily lives. We are not required to be perfect but we are asked to follow. We are not expected to be better than everyone else but we are asked to show the way. We are indeed asked to celebrate Sunday and not just to hope that somebody else is doing it while we are not bothering. And so being a Christian today is what it has always been: service and leadership.    

These are qualities and characteristics that cannot exist independent of one another. They need to work together if we are to be healthy people and healthy communities. They make sense as mirror images and as two sides of the one coin. Their relationship is instinctive: the Jesus who died for us also rose for us. Their expression is equally instinctive: the same Jesus did not leave his friends comfortless but returned to them in the days after Easter to equip them for service and for leadership. Their offering to the world of our day lies in our hands and on our lips: the same Jesus gives us the courage and the compassion to be his ambassadors of peace every day of the week.

Every Sunday is an Easter on which we celebrate the victory of life over death, however hard this may seem and however unlikely this may look to us at any given time. It is God’s precious gift. 

I wish each and all of you a very Happy Easter.

Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! Alleluia!

+Michael

Clergy, Deacons and Lay Ministers from all over the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough gathered in Christ Church Cathedral this morning, Maundy Thursday, for the Chrism Eucharist.

The service was celebrated by Archbishop Michael Jackson. During it the Lay Ministers, Deacons, Priests and the Archbishop renewed their commitment to Ministry. Oils for use during services and in pastoral care during the year were also consecrated. The Archbishop washed the feet of some of the congregation.

In his sermon, the Archbishop addressed the themes brought up during Holy Week and on Maundy Thursday. He said that Holy Week brought a heightened tension and in the final three days, an increase in pressure, power and patience.

He spoke of fear and the self–realisation and self–recognition it could bring. Self–delusion, stockpiles to keep questions about ourselves at bay, could be faced and addressed by the cold wind of fear in a way that would never be done without fear driving us, he said.

“As Holy Week is structured for us, in Word and Sacrament, we get a real sense of such fear growing and escalating around and within us. For all four authors of the written Gospel, there is a sense of surging, eschatological movement as Jesus, the living Gospel, makes his way authoritatively through the city of Jerusalem. There is also a strong sense of confrontation. People meet in narrow streets and they always seem to need more space than the geography of the place allows them. So many of the characters with whom we have seen Jesus engage in the three short years of his ministry resurface,” Archbishop Jackson said.

He talked about clergy who needed care and attention to enable them to do their jobs. He said that like roads which were resurfaced in order to provide infrastructure to support walkers, drivers and cyclists, clergy needed care and attention. “Like the roads, we also need to be resurfaced for a number of very good reasons: our role is to give to other people confidence and compassion in the name of Jesus Christ and through the ministries of the church; in order to do this we need a very well maintained spiritual infrastructure and the most important form of care and support is the care and support we offer to ourselves and to one another,” he explained.

The Archbishop’s sermon can be read in full below:

Chrism Eucharist and Blessing of Oils, Christ Church Cathedral

Readings: St John 13.1–17; 31b–35

A sermon preached by the Archbishop

1 Corinthians 11.26: For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Sometimes it is a rather good thing to find oneself with few or no resources to fall back on. It encourages us to dig more deeply within ourselves than we normally have the need, or even more interesting the nerve, to do. Whatever we think of ourselves, we in fact have nowhere else to go looking, so we need to start improvising and bargaining – rather fast. It is a moment when we realize something of our human need of others. I also hope it is a moment when we realize something of our need of God’s presence and we accept, perhaps for the first time, that in the simplest of terms we do need to feel God near. Something of this movement and emotional journey is captured for us every year in Lent. The heightening of the tension comes to us during Holy Week and especially in the final three days of pressure, of power and of patience – all shown in different ways.

Having few, or no resources also introduces into our lives a blast of fear. It doesn’t have to happen to us in a side street in a part of the city that gives all the air of not having changed since the seventeenth century, except for the brightly painted double yellow lines heralding the homing pigeon instincts of ‘The Clamper’ – but it might! It might happen to us when we pause to think – in our own back garden, or when we are with family members and friends enjoying ourselves and are in what looks like very safe territory. Fear can rush into the seemingly safest of places.

The most frightening part of this sort of fear concerns a particular realization and recognition about ourselves. It can also be the most formative and life–changing reality. The last fear to be confronted and addressed is that of self–delusion. All too often we have banked up, stockpiled a form of such self–delusion, with layer upon layer of activity and busyness, to keep questions about ourselves at bay. The cold wind of fear helps us to face this, and to address this head–on, in a way that we would never perhaps have done without fear driving us in this direction in the first instance and for the first time.

As Holy Week is structured for us, in Word and Sacrament, we get a real sense of such fear growing and escalating around and within us. For all four authors of the written Gospel, there is a sense of surging, eschatological movement as Jesus, the living Gospel, makes his way authoritatively through the city of Jerusalem. There is also a strong sense of confrontation. People meet in narrow streets and they always seem to need more space than the geography of the place allows them. So many of the characters with whom we have seen Jesus engage in the three short years of his ministry resurface.

How often have we, in the personal and pastoral circumstances in which we live and pray and work, how often have we heard people, frightened people, speak of fears and anxieties, phobias and ghosts indeed: resurfacing. And, how seriously have we taken or have we even wanted to take these people? In the life of giving and response, which is our life, there is no escaping this type of resurfacing. Our work is predictable; our range of people for whom we have direct responsibility is limited very significantly by the parochial system and by how many or how few people live within our boundaries; at times it can be quite claustrophobic, stifling and constricting. If we are in a chaplaincy situation, then there are different problems and concerns: people largely and rightly come and go, and our relationships with them are both intense and transient and occasional. Thirdly, and always, our own powers of creativity and imagination are limited by our capacity and our energy, the depth or shallowness of our prayer and our spiritual capacity for the distinction between good and evil.

These are the sort of things which, rightly, resurface on Maundy Thursday as we gather as servants of the Servant, as teachers of the Teacher and as deacons and priests of The Christ. Resurfacing is what difficult people do to us and resurfacing is what we do to them. We keep meeting one another! We need to use the time that we still have with the earthly Jesus imaginatively to address such resurfacing spiritual forces and energies in us and in other people. This is one of the last gifts of the living incarnation to us by Jesus Christ. We need to be able to have the goodness and the humility to go to the nether hell with this same Jesus Christ and with him to rise to live the risen life as the church of The Resurrected One. But on Maundy Thursday the focus must not and can not be on self and glory but on God and service, the self–emptying so ably articulated by St Paul in Philippians and by St Mark in his Gospel and so powerfully enacted by the Jesus of St John around the Table of Thanksgiving in the washing of sore and heavy feet.

Gathered in the tranquillity of this cathedral church in which a significant number of us was ordained, I wonder what sort of a place this is for us. To anyone who comes to visit or to worship here, it is bright and it is beautiful; it is loved and it is gorgeous; it combines sound and space in a way that is the most simple but most direct definition of liturgy itself. It is also a place where we can be helped to address and to deal with the sort of resurfacing of which I am speaking. The cathedral church lives through the cycle of the year with and for God in a way that none of the rest of us can. It carries us deep within itself in its spirituality, in this very journey, as our mother church; we trust it to do so; we entrust ourselves and our hearts and souls to it. It has the resources in terms of people and money to do this work of God, opus Dei, and we rejoice that such is the case. It endures the full barrage of the Scriptures, of people, of emotion, of comprehension and of incomprehension and it stands and will continue to stand in whatever form that standing will take in the future, stand for the place where God meets all God’s people.

When I preached here at Christmas, I said that in the Christian life we are going nowhere without words like: incarnation and resurrection. On Maundy Thursday, I suggest to you that we are going nowhere without words like: redemption and service. And sadly many of us might well prefer to do the work of ministry without the need for such ‘big words,’ seem by so many as words of stumbling and of incomprehension.

So, where does resurfacing feature in all of this? I am fascinated by the precision with which people who work as part of The Roads Service clear, prepare and then re–surface the places where there have been pot–holes, where submerged piping needs to be removed and re–placed or where, simply, there is need to re–configure the lay out of the road because traffic needs have changed. Resurfacing is not a matter of papering over the cracks but one of doing a thorough job of engineering; it means doing a proper job and much of the work that is done will never be seen again by anyone other than the people who do it; it simply lies beneath the surface and we trust that it has been done properly. The surface carries us along but it is the infrastructure that gives us the necessary support, whether we are walking, driving or cycling.   

Perhaps the same can hold of us, as we gather with the Master who teaches us today of all days to be slaves. Like the roads which we take for granted, many people take us for granted. Like the roads which need repair, we ourselves need care and watching, careful preparation and invisible attention – from ourselves, in fact, even more than from others. Like the roads, we also need to be resurfaced for a number of very good reasons: our role is to give to other people confidence and compassion in the name of Jesus Christ and through the ministries of the church; in order to do this we need a very well maintained spiritual infrastructure and the most important form of care and support is the care and support we offer to ourselves and to one another. This spiritual care comes from an infrastructure of humanity, prayer, relaxation, humour, honesty, humility and friendship. The resurfacing concerns the public side and face of the work and the impression of consistency that this gives to others. In all of this we need constantly to keep in touch and in contact with the incarnate God. Although we might think that the Scriptures do not give us much of a coherent sense of this side of the life of Jesus, we get enough evidence to see this as the infrastructure of his life and interactions with other people.

Our Lord will take us with him to the cross, into hell and into the life of resurrection – if we can and if we long to travel with him in faith and in imagination. This is not too much for him who gave his life a ransom for many to ask of those who have responded to the invitation to serve with him and for him as slaves.  

Exodus 12.14: This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; through your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

President Michael D Higgins, will attend the Ecumenical Service to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf in the Church of St John the Baptist, Seafield Road West, Clontarf, on Wednesday April 23 at 12.00 noon.

The date coincides with the actual anniversary of the infamous battle fought on Good Friday 1014 between the forces of Brian Boru and the forces of the King of Leinster, Mael Morda mac Murchada, supplemented by Viking mercenaries. It ended in a rout of Mael Morda’s forces and the death of around 10,000 warriors including Brian.

The theme of the commemorative service will be Peace and Reconciliation. It will be attended by representatives of the six Christian churches in Clontarf, as well as the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson. The address will be given by the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Eamonn Walsh, representing Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Representatives of local business, sporting, educational, leisure and political interests will be present along with the Danish Ambassador to Ireland, Niels Pultz, and the Norwegian Ambassador to Ireland, Ronald Names as well as representatives of the Irish Defences forces. A yew tree will be planted in the church grounds on the day to commemorate this major event for Clontarf and its environs.

The sun shone and Dublin’s streets were crowded as the annual Good Friday Walk of Witness made its way across the city centre this evening. Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin led the procession carrying a Taizé cross from Christ Church Cathedral to St Mary’s Pro Cathedral – a distance of over two kilometres.

During the short service in Christ Church Cathedral before the procession began, Archbishop Jackson thanked Archbishop Martin for instigating the walk three years ago and thanked everyone for joining the walk and taking the opportunity to bring the message of Good Friday to the streets of the city.

Afterwards in the Pro Cathedral, Archbishop Martin said the event was important for both Archbishops to undertake together and was testament to the points both traditions held in common.

People of all traditions joined the procession and prayed together around the Taizé cross at the end.

Photo Caption: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Archbishop Michael Jackson carry the Taizé cross down the aisle of Christ Church Cathedral for the beginning of the Good Friday Walk of Witness.

“The Challenge of the Cross” was the theme of this year’s Good Friday Three Hour Service in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street. This year’s reflections were provided by the Revd Sonia Gyles, Rector of Sandford and St Philip’s, Milltown.

In her addresses, Ms Gyles focused on six key areas including Commitment, Humility and Service, Responsibility, Acceptance and Patience.

The service was led by the Vicar, Canon David Gillespie and curate the Revd Martin O’Connor was also in attendance along with ordinand, Dr Anne Lodge. St Ann’s Choir performed.

Photo Caption: The Revd Martin O’Connor, Canon David Gillespie, the Revd Sonia Gyles and Dr Anne Lodge with the Choir of St Ann’s Church.

The innocence of difference should be cultivated rather than focusing on the destructive rhetoric of difference, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, said in his Easter Day sermon at the Festal Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral this morning.

He said innocence was often associated with naivety, trust betrayed and openness to exploitation but it also had a deeper and more powerful meaning.

“The innocent is that which causes no harm every bit as much as the person who deserves not to be harmed. The series of Resurrection meetings and encounters that friends have with the Risen Lord point us in the direction of this freedom from harm, this particular, and in our case spiritual, type of innocence. This is tremendously important and particularly on Easter Day,” the Archbishop explained.

“Always the protection and the enhancement of the life of the vulnerable is to be championed as a priority in the society and in the churches in Ireland. And on Easter Day we celebrate life in its newness, its freshness and its connectedness to God and we celebrate the careful compassion of innocence in the person of God as a living example to us in our own lives,” he added.

He referred to the meeting of Mary of Magdala with Jesus and said through their conversation it was recognised that God had been changed by the Resurrection. But that meeting also recognised the celebration of difference and the innocence and harmlessness of difference.

“Too often we use the language of difference as a battering–ram to prevent, to brutalize and to close down relationships. This flies in the face of the best of human endeavour and in the face of the positivity that we saw and enjoyed, for example, in the public expressions of friendship and respect between President Michael D Higgins and Queen Elizabeth, a bonding between our two nations for the whole world to see,” Archbishop Jackson said.

He suggested that Resurrection challenged the prevailing wisdom about diversity. For most people, he said, diversity meant undifferentiated equality and redressing exclusion by making different things and people seem somehow the same. “The gift of holiness is somehow different; it is a precious gift and is given by God; it recognizes the need for distinction. The outworking of holiness lies with the people of God, the children of Resurrection – you and me. So does the outworking of difference and respect – and spiritual and physical innocence,” he concluded.

Archbishop Jackson’s sermon is reproduced in full below:

Easter Day, Christ Church Cathedral, Diocese of Dublin

St John 20.18: Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

A sermon preached by the Archbishop

Innocence is not something we tend to associate with adult life. Furrowed brows, preoccupation with other people and their preoccupations – real or imagined – with us, ever–deepening anxieties about ourselves and our ability to cope, lack of freedom to stop and to enjoy the small things of beauty, colour and humour which festoon our path hour by hour – this is adult life as most of us know it. The only reward and justification, all rolled into one, is that of collapsing in a heap at the end of yet another frustrating and fruitless day. I wilfully exaggerate, but sometimes it is almost as if we would not know who we are if our problems did not come to meet us. We would be bereft of the props of contemporary living were we able, without guilt, to look up and to see the light.

It is, therefore, all the more interesting to see the reaction to the resurrection of Jesus, as refracted through the personalities who make up the new picture of Resurrection Life after the traumatic events of Good Friday and the earthly vacuum of Saturday. The Gospel writers are helpful to us as we struggle in our own lives and hearts to deal with grief and violence, loss of life and the new freedom that such loss brings in its train, slow though we may be to see it. For individuals and for societies it is not something automatic nor can it be. Just look at Rwanda, just look at Anfield and Hillsborough along with lots of other tearing and torn human situations. Pain, grief, loss take time; and healing does not often look as if it is around the corner. Easter sheds light into our darkness, honour into our fear, hope into our brokenness. God is present with us in a new and Risen way.    

Innocence we too often associate with a state of naivety, trust betrayed and openness to exploitation. It has a deeper and, in many ways, more powerful meaning. This meaning is that of absence from harm. The innocent is that which causes no harm every bit as much as the person who deserves not to be harmed. The series of Resurrection meetings and encounters that friends have with the Risen Lord point us in the direction of this freedom from harm, this particular, and in our case spiritual, type of innocence. This is tremendously important and particularly on Easter Day. Always the protection and the enhancement of the life of the vulnerable is to be championed as a priority in the society and in the churches in Ireland. And on Easter Day we celebrate life in its newness, its freshness and its connectedness to God and we celebrate the careful compassion of innocence in the person of God as a living example to us in our own lives.

Mary of Magdala is a very good example of innocence as she comes to accept the changes that have taken place in Jesus. We are told this through the conversation between her and Jesus about the fact that his body cannot and must not be touched. For an incarnational faith, which Christianity is, this is a very important and difficult moment. We tend to concentrate on the positive changes brought about by the birth of God; we need also to concentrate on the positive changes brought about by the death of God in the body of God. The Early Fathers of the church are very clear that God became human in order than humanity might become divine. We have here, in the person of Mary of Magdala, a worked example of this principle as Jesus Christ Son of Man and Son of God, while Risen, prepares to Ascend. He will take the very expression of who God is a stage beyond where it has ever expressed itself before. God has given the very self of God to humankind. God remains God and returns to being God, enriched and enhanced by the experience of being human – and once again, God is in some sense: different. So, innocence has also to do with learning the recognition and the celebration of difference. The important thing that we learn from Mary is that the innocence/the harmlessness of difference is something that we should cultivate much more than the more dismissive and destructive rhetoric of difference. Too often we use the language of difference as a battering–ram to prevent, to brutalize and to close down relationships. This flies in the face of the best of human endeavour and in the face of the positivity that we saw and enjoyed, for example, in the public expressions of friendship and respect between President Michael D Higgins and Queen Elizabeth, a bonding between our two nations for the whole world to see.

Thomas likewise is a good example of innocence, although we might never have thought to see him in this way. Thomas is hurting on the evening of Easter Day and he is hurting badly, most of all because he alone of the disciples has missed the Risen Lord when he came to be with his disciples after the Resurrection. We can only imagine what his emotions are like and we can do no more than guess what he made the others feel like, what he put them through, because he had missed out. We all know people like this! People like Thomas often are very hard work indeed. They want evidence, and they want it on their own terms, and they want it now! Yet the Risen Lord comes back again and Thomas, true to form, wants to be very hands–on with the body; he is himself; he wants to touch the openings in the side, the feet and the hands. But the message, delivered in a different way, is the same as the message delivered to Mary: you may not, you do not need to, you must not touch the Risen body. It still has work to do; it still has places to go; it still has something to become; it is something other and you will touch it only when it is Ascended – because then the body of the Lord will truly be the body of Christ, and that new and Risen body is the people of the Risen God. Again there is an innocence, a shielding from harm, in all of this new interaction between God and God’s creation in this new world of Easter.  

Resurrection teaches us about holiness. It gives us access to the most holy of holiness: living divinity itself, but not any longer only on our earthly and limited terms. It takes forward the story and the truth of incarnation. But we still have to continue to live by faith, even those of us who have been privileged to see, as were Mary and Thomas and the first disciples. And we too, from time to time and from person to person, today are privileged to see, if we have the imagination and the obedience. It happens in those moment which we, as exhausted adults need to reclaim: moments of colour, seconds of laughter, flashes of freshness. Easter teaches us all a really powerful lesson about life. As the Easter story unfolds, it is a lesson that is first taught and given to the bereaved. Through the innocence/the harmlessness of trust and not touching we can let something new happen. It is the new creation, life through the gate of death, resurrection itself. It lives a new and different life – a life which, extraordinarily, comes about by means of death and not by outwitting death. It also teaches us about distance as an essential component in difference.

Resurrection challenges the prevailing wisdom about diversity. For most people diversity has to do with an undifferentiated equality and with the redressing of exclusion simply by making the things and the people who are unlike each other somehow the same. The gift of holiness is somehow different; it is a precious gift and is given by God; it recognizes the need for distinction. The outworking of holiness lies with the people of God, the children of Resurrection – you and me. So does the outworking of difference and respect – and spiritual and physical innocence.

Colossians 3.4:

When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory

Parishioners of St Columba’s in Swords will be out in force this weekend raising awareness for their campaign to save their church. The north Dublin town is celebrating its links with Brian Boru over the weekend with the Swords 1014 Festival which runs from Friday April 25 to Sunday April 27. It is reputed that Brian Boru was waked at the Abbey which occupied the site of St Columba’s before being brought to Armagh. There will be tours for the church and round tower on Saturday and Sunday. The parish will be holding collections during the Fire Parade on Friday evening and will have an information stand in Swords Castle on Saturday.

Disaster struck at St Columba’s in April last year when a six foot section of coping, frieze and plaster work above the chancel collapsed. The church was reroofed in 2006 but prior to that there may have been a long time where water was getting into the internal rubbled walls causing the interior plaster work to decay. The decision was taken on health and safety grounds to transfer services to the parish hall across the road.

After the initial shock a series of committees was established at a ‘Call to Action Meeting’ last November. Building and fundraising committees are now focussed on getting the church reopened and finding the money for the necessary work to be carried out.

The building committee has been working with conservational architect, Paul Arnold, to produce a programme of work for the restoration of the church. Initially the electrics and plasterwork in the chancel will be tackled in order to get the church reopened. The overall restoration of the church will cost in the region of €500,000. However, taking the work in small steps means that they will have an initial outlay of about €160,000.

The fundraising committee has received great support from Fingal County Council which has given St Columba’s a licence to hold collections during Friday’s torch lit parade. The parish’s pavilion in Swords Castle on Saturday, where there will be battle reenactments taking place will allow parishioners to engage with the public on the historical aspect of St Columba’s Church and will raise the profile of the situation.

The committee has launched a campaign and website at www.savesaintcolumbaschurch.org. They can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/savestcolumbaschurch.

St Columba’s Church opened in 1818. There is a round tower on the site which would have been built between the years 800 and 1000 during the Viking invasions. There is also a square tower which was built in the 1300s and is the only remaining part of the old Abbey which once occupied the site, the chapel of which is reputed to have been used to wake Brian Boru following his death in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The Abbey was built on the site chosen by St Columba (also known in Ireland as St Columcille) in the year 560.

President Michael D Higgins planted a yew tree to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf as part of an ecumenical service in the Church of St John the Baptist this morning, Wednesday April 23. 

The yew, which is a native Irish tree, was chosen for its longevity. Older yew trees in Ireland have been alive for an estimated 2,000 years so it is hoped that the tree planted in the church grounds this morning will be around for the celebrations marking the battle’s second millennium.

The date of the service coincides with the actual anniversary of the infamous battle fought on Good Friday 1014 between the forces of Brian Boru and the forces of the King of Leinster, Mael Morda mac Murchada, supplemented by Viking mercenaries. It ended in a rout of Mael Morda’s forces and the death of around 10,000 warriors including Brian.

The theme of the commemorative service was Peace and Reconciliation. It was led by Rector of Clontarf, the Revd Lesley Robinson, with representatives of the six Christian churches in Clontarf, and was attended by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson. The address was given by the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Eamonn Walsh, representing Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Representatives of local business, sporting, educational, leisure and political interests were present along with the Danish Ambassador to Ireland, Niels Pultz, and the Norwegian Ambassador to Ireland, Ronald Names as well as representatives of the Irish Defense forces. 

During the service representatives of the six local parishes lit candles for peace.

In his address Bishop Walsh said that the Battle of Clontarf could not be described as a “master class in conflict resolution”. He said the commemoration of the battle nudged us to reflect on the centre of gravity of peace and added that peace and reconciliation were in our hands. 

Pope Francis had highlighted fraternity as an essential human quality for peace, he said. “It is the foundation and first pathway to peace. Seeing each other as sisters and brothers of God’s family enables us to see with a ‘fraternal optic’,” the Bishop explained.

“The brutality of the Battle of Clontarf has occasioned us with the opportunity to reflect on peaceful resolution to conflict and remembering we are sisters and brothers regardless of differences,” he concluded. 

Speaking at the beginning of the service, select vestry member of the Church of St John the Baptist, John Patten, gave a history of the oldest parish in Clontarf and said it would have been in existence in 1014. He praised President Higgins and his wife and team for the manner in which the conducted the recent State visit to the UK and said that the Irish people owed him a huge debt of gratitude.

Photo Caption: Rector of Clontarf, the Revd Lesley Robinson, President Michael D Higgins, Mrs Sabina Higgins and Mr John Patten planting the yew tree to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf in the grounds of the Church of St John the Baptist, Clontarf.

Archbishop Michael Jackson has announced that the Revd Adrienne Galligan (pictured), Rector of Crumlin and Chapelizod, is to be the Diocesan Director of Ordinands for Dublin and Glendalough Dioceses.

The Archbishop said: “Adrienne knows these dioceses well. She has taught in East Glendalough School and is herself an ordinand of Dublin and Glendalough while her predecessor, the Revd Ted Woods, was Director. Adrienne is Rural Dean of Taney and a member of the Diocesan Growth Group. She is committed to the developing vision of the diocese and to outworking of the discipleship and mission of all members of the Christian family”.

The Revd Adrienne Galligan said she felt privileged by the appointment. “I consider it an enormous privilege to be invited by Archbishop Michael to engage with those people who desire to serve God through exploring ministry matters in God’s multifaceted 21st century Church of which these dioceses are a vibrant part,” she stated.

Her appointment takes effect immediately.

Archbishop Michael Jackson has announced that the Revd Baden Stanley, Rector of Bray (pictured), is to be the next Children’s Ministry Advisor in succession to the Revd Anne Taylor.

Commenting, the Archbishop said: “Baden has shown significant creativity in the expression of ministry from the perspective of children in his own parish. Many of us will remember with affection Lent 2013 through the lens of Narnia when the interior of the church was imaginatively transformed and thousands of people were able to see the thought pattern of CS Lewis through fresh eyes”.

The Revd Baden Stanley said he was delighted to have been appointed. “There is nothing quite like the wonder that children seem to capture so easily from a very young age. To be appointed as Children’s Ministry Advisor by the Archbishop is a pleasure and a joy. I hope to build on the excellent work that Anne has done over the years and look forward to serving the work of the Dioceses in this way when I get back to Parish ministry in September,” he commented.

He will lake up his appointment in September of this year.