Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Saturday 3 January 2015
Focus on Church Archives
The January issue of the RCB Library’s ‘Archive of the Month’ (which may be viewed at http://ireland.anglican.org/about/128) concentrates, appropriately enough, on the role of the Library in preserving, cataloguing and making available to researchers a wide variety of documentary material which bears on almost every aspect of the history of the Church of Ireland. This has been done by highlighting the current issue of Irish Archives, the journal of the Irish Society for Archives, which is devoted to Church of Ireland archives.
The Librarian & Archivist of the Church of Ireland, Dr Raymond Refaussé, reflects on the evolution of the RCB Library as the archives of the Church of Ireland, Dr Susan Hood, Assistant Librarian & Archivist in the Library, explains how, through her ‘Archive of the Month’ initiative the Library reaches out to a world–wide audience, and architectural historian, Dr Michael O’Neill, discusses his project to catalogue and digitise the Library’s collection of architectural drawings of churches and make them freely available to all via the Church of Ireland website.
Three historians discuss their research on aspects of the history of the Church of Ireland using materials in the Library – Dr Martin Maguire (Dundalk Institute of Technology) on the Protestant working class, Dr Robbie Roulston (UCD School of History & Archives) on the relationship of the Church with the Irish State in the field of education, and Dr Miriam Moffett (St Patrick’s College, Maynooth) on the often controversial issue of identity. A contribution from archivist, Andrew Whiteside, discusses Church of Ireland secondary schools and the commemoration of the first world war, and a piece by librarian and singer, Sue Hemmens, highlights the 18th century music archive of Christ Church cathedral.
Speaking at the launch of Irish Archives, the Minister for Education and Skills, Ms Jan O’Sullivan remarked that ‘The gathering of these records and the provision of them to people is a service to the nation.’
Copies of Irish Archives may be had from the RCB Library, Braemor Park, Churchtown, Dublin 14 at €10.
Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 3.15pm there will be an Epiphany Carol Service in St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, followed at 4.15pm by a performance by the cathedral’s assistant organist, David Leigh, of Oliver Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur. Following Choral Evensong in St George’s church, Belfast, at 5pm, the Bicentenary Recital Series continues with a performance by the Methodist College Junior String Quartet.
On Thursday there will be a lunchtime Healing Service in St Macartin’s cathedral, Ennikillen beginning at 1.05pm.
On Friday evening at 8pm in St Peter’s church, Portlaoise, the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory will institute the Revd Brian O’Rourke, to the incumbency of the Portlaoise & Ballyfin union of parishes which encompasses the parishes of Maryborough, Dysert Enos and Ballyfin. Mr O’Rourke, who has been Rector of St Anne, Shandon, in Cork since 2000, was ordained in 1992 and served as Chaplain to East Glendalough School and in the parish of Newcastle in Co. Wicklow.
St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, has launched a ‘Sponsor a Chorister’ scheme to contribute to the cost of sending the cathedral choristers on tour which for most is the experienced of a lifetime. The next tour is scheduled for Edinburgh in July 2015. Cheques made payable to ‘Saint Patrick’s Cathedral’ and marked ‘Sponsor a Chorister’ on the reverse, may be sent to the Precentor at St Patrick’s cathedral, St Patrick’s Close, Dublin 8.
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’