A reception to mark Bishop Paul Colton’s forthcoming retirement was held in the clubhouse at Garryduff Sports Centre at Rochestown, Cork on Saturday, 11th April. Garryduff is the sports centre of the ICICYMA – Incorporated Church of Ireland Cork Young Men’s Association, founded in 1870 – of which the Bishop has been Patron since 1999.
On behalf of everyone, Carol Jermyn, spoke warmly about the Bishop’s association with the Club as the longest-serving Patron in the Club’s 156-year history. She shared particular memories of Bishop Colton’s active involvement with the Club, including when he accompanied the team and supporters to Prague in 2004 for the European Hockey Championships.
Carol said
‘You have been actively involved in the life of the Club for all those year and you stood alongside us as Patron and friend in good times as well as in very challenging days.’
On behalf of the Management Committee of ICICYMA Carol then presented the Bishop with Honorary Life Membership. He is only the eleventh person in the history of the club to be awarded that honour. Mrs Susan Colton was presented with flowers and both she and the Bishop were presented with a gift to mark the occasion.
Carol Jermyn (centre) presented Bishop Paul Colton with his certificate of Honorary Life Membership of ICICYMA – Garryduff Sports Club, Cork – and Mrs Susan Colton was presented with flowers.
In his response Bishop Colton shared some memories of the first hockey match for the club as an under-12 year old when the pitch was at Glasheen Road ‘sloping downwards towards The Lough in Cork.
Bishop Colton said:
Receiving this honorary life membership is genuinely one of the greatest honours of my life. My family and I have always appreciated the genuine warmth of the welcome and hospitality we have received here at the Club. So many here have become good and reliable friends. It has been an honour to serve as the Club’s Patron for more than 27 years.
Afterwards everyone headed out to the pitch side for that day’s men’s firsts hockey fixture when Church of Ireland were playing Cookstown. After the match, the reception continued in the Clubhouse.
byThe Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
The Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, preaching on Easter Day 2026 in Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork. (Photograph: Denise Stobart)
In Rosscarbery last Thursday, one of our Diocesan Readers told me a story that I hadn’t heard before – that when Bishop Sam Poyntz was being enthroned here as your bishop in September 1978, that as the readers and clergy were processing down Bishop Street from the Cathedral Hall on Dean Street, some of them became a bit anxious. He said, ‘we looked across the road and there, in the gateway of the Bishop’s Palace, standing beside a motorbike, was a dodgy looking character, in a biker suit and with a helmet on. We weren’t sure what he was up to.’
That ‘dodgy looking character’ – the motorcyclist – has been your bishop for the last 27 years. It was me. I had no ticket to get in that night. So if you didn’t manage to get a ticket for the farewell service later this month – don’t worry – you too could be the bishop of the Diocese some day. That ‘dodgy looking character’ has had the joy and privilege of being your bishop for the last more than 27 years, and of standing in this pulpit on Easter Day to proclaim that ‘Christ is risen!’
Today gives me an opportunity, in a particular way, to thank you all in this Cathedral family, for your care and support for us – Susan, Andrew, Adam and me – as your fellow parishioners – living across the road in the big house. It has been our home for longer than anyone else since the house was built in 1782. You have been our fellow pilgrims in this parish. We celebrated with you here for all the major festivals. Andrew and Adam went to Sunday School here – so much more and so many memories. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Over the years since that enthronement in 1978, and in the last 27 years since my own enthronement in this month – 24th April 1999 – so much has changed; beyond our imagination and experience. Sadly, a lot has not changed. We still live in a world of horrendous and inhuman conflict, injustice and marginalisation. Somehow, in spite of good intentions, energy, commitment and positive efforts, there appears to be a collective impotence when it comes to resolving some of the things that matter most in our world and in our society. In spite of all those changes and all those challenges the Easter message remains the same. Christ is risen!
As I did recently with my St Patrick’s Day sermons, I asked Gemini – Google’s AI tool – to summarise my sermons of Easter Day since 1991. And the verdict? Here’s what it came up with:
‘The sermons consistently focus on the themes of crucifixion, resurrection, and the implications of the Easter story for contemporary Christian life.’
As I retire, I am relieved and glad that the sermons stand up to scrutiny and that that has been the summary.
The main themes were listed as:
The Mystery of the Resurrection and Faith: The empty tomb is seen as a sign, but the true symbol of resurrection is the encounter with the living Christ.
Crucifixion and Resurrection as a Pattern: The core Christian message is that ‘resurrection follows inexorably from crucifixion’, offering hope that every experience of suffering, failure, or death can lead to a new beginning.
The Transformation of the Disciples: The resurrection transformed the disciples from a ‘huddle of frightened peasants’ to courageous, world-changing witnesses.
Being Witnesses Today: Christians are called to be ‘Easter people’ – witnesses to the resurrection in their own time by promoting peace, love, healing, and transforming unjust structures.
The social Relevance of the Easter Message: The sermons frequently connect the timeless Easter story to contemporary issues, urging Christians to apply the resurrection hope and the radical simplicity of Jesus’ message to a hurting world.
The Inclusive Nature of God’s Love: God “shows no partiality,” and the Easter faith is universal and inclusive, challenging all forms of prejudice and inequality, including racial, social, and gender-based partiality.
The Role of Women: Multiple sermons highlight the revolutionary significance of the women, particularly Mary Magdalene,
So there you have it. And yes – the role of women – Mary Magdalene, again in today’s Gospel, to whom I shall return in a moment.
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
As we hear these words here in this place, here on earth today, the entire Bible is, once again, on a journey into space. To be precise – when I checked at 7 a.m. Artemis II (with that Bible on board – one of the personal possessions brought by pilot Astronaut Victor Glover – a Christian, he has always brought a Bible on his space flights to the International Space Station) – was 198,000 miles from earth with 83,000 to go to the Moon – day 4 of this 10 day mission.
As a child of the 1960s I have always been fascinated by space exploration. The first decade of my life was dominated by the US-Soviet space race. As a 9 year old, like many of you I reckon, I watched those grainy black and white images on our televisions on 20th July 1969 as Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. Apollo 17 was the last time someone landed on the moon; in December 1972. In parallel in our childhood we had the first series of the science fiction series Star Trek.
I’m one of those people whose eyes well up when I witness a rocket launch – and it happened again with the launch of Artemis II last Wednesday night. Most of all, I am filled with admiration for those courageous human beings – the astronauts . I could never do it – even in a nightmare. I hold my breath as I watch the launch. I follow the progress. I pray for their safe return.
Watching people’s reactions on the TV on Wednesday night during and after the launch – there was infectious excitement and jubilation – relief, I expect too. As I watched, it occurred to me that, at this remove from that first Easter, only at this remove and only with the hindsight of faith, we too can have such unbridled joy as we proclaim and grasp the hope and reality in faith of the risen Christ in our lives and universally for our world.
However, as I read today’s Gospel we can see that the first Easter was not at all like that. That first discovery was marked by disappointment and uncertainty which gave way to confusion, questions, doubt and fear:
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
Mary Magdalene did not know what to make of it all. There was misunderstanding. We can sense in today’s Gospel how tentative it all was – it was mind-wrecking. There was emotional upheaval. But most of all, Mary Magdalene had courage. She had been staying inside the reasonably secure city walls. It was still dark. The tomb where they had laid him was outside in a dodgy area; somewhere people didn’t venture, certainly not a young woman on her own. But she went. She was looking for a burial that had happened hastily and in secret. She wasn’t sure where she was going. She is certainly someone we can admire too. And then she makes the discovery. The tomb has been opened. She ran back to tell the others:
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ (John 20.2)
It is only later, back in the garden that she thinks she meets the gardener. She pours out her grief to the stranger. He speaks. She recognises his voice. (As the Good Shepherd said they would know his voice). Again, she runs back to tell the others. ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.’ (John 20.18). And so it is that we are here to celebrate and to let the difference it all makes sink into our lives and concerns, here and now, day by day. We can now, in our day, joyfully proclaim ‘Christ is risen’.
Finally, and once again, that dodgy character, who was once that 18 year old standing across the road outside with his motorbike, thanks you. I wish you a happy Easter and pray for God’s blessing on you all as you journey on.
Clergy and lay representatives from across the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross gathered in St Fachtna’s Cathedral, Rosscarbery, on Maundy Thursday, 2 April 2026, for the annual Chrism Eucharist.
Picture: Andy Gibson.
The Chrism Eucharist is a central moment in the life of the diocese during Holy Week. It is a time when clergy renew their ordination vows and reaffirm their shared ministry, while the bishop blesses the oils used in baptism, confirmation, ordination, and the ministry of healing throughout the coming year. This year’s service held particular significance as it marked Bishop Paul Colton’s final Chrism Eucharist before his retirement at the end of April.
During the service, Bishop Paul led the gathered clergy and lay ministers in the renewal of their vows, a moment that reflects both the continuity and the shared commitment of ordained ministry across the diocese. The blessing of the oils, presented and received during the service, serves as a visible expression of unity between parishes and the cathedral, and of the pastoral and sacramental life that connects communities throughout Cork, Cloyne and Ross.
The service brought together clergy from across the dioceses, along with readers and parishioners, in a shared act of worship at the beginning of the Triduum. The choir of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral sang the Grayston Ives Missa Brevis and Anton Bruckner’s Christus factus est under the direction of Peter Stobart and with Matthew Breen on the organ. As in previous years, the Dean of Ross and members of his parish prepared a large spread for lunch in the narthex of the cathedral after the service.
In his sermon, Bishop Paul reflected on the deep connection between ministry and a genuine love for the people and places we are called to serve, drawing on both personal experience and the example of Christ as the Good Shepherd. He encouraged those gathered to continue their ministry with that same spirit of faithful, self-giving love, rooted in belonging and service. His words carried added resonance as this occasion marked the final time he would preside at the Chrism Eucharist as bishop of the diocese.
Sermon preached by the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
at the annual Chrism Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, 2nd April 2026
in the Cathedral Church of Saint Fachtna, Rosscarbery
Bishop Paul Colton arrives at the Cathedral Church of Saint Fachtna, Rosscarbery on Maundy Thursday, to preside and preach for the last time as Bishop of the Diocese. (Photograph; Andy Gibson)
During the summer Olympics in Tokyo, postponed to the summer of 2021, I was asked to write an article for the annual Journal of the Castlehaven and Myross History Society. I gave my article the title ‘A Love Affair with West Cork.’ In it I asked the question ‘How do you come to love a place as deeply as this, to the point that you feel you yourself belong?’ I hope I answered my own question in that article.
And, incidentally, as an aside, I have always believed that wherever you are in ministry, if you do not come to love the place and the people where you are serving in God’s name, then perhaps you are not in the place God means you to be. It is very basic – Jesus loved the people he moved among, taught and healed – not unquestioningly, not uncritically, not without a prophetic edge, of course. We model our ministry on him, the Good Shepherd, who said ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.’ (John 10.14-15). That profound and sacrificial love of people and place is our calling too.
Bishop William Lyon, the first Protestant bishop of Ross appointed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1582 seems not to have loved this place. He called it ‘the wildest part of Munster.’ He referred to Ireland in general as ‘this barbarous country.’ He became a vigorous and doctrinaire proponent of the Reformation. In fact he advocated the extermination – yes, something, with hindsight, that we must acknowledge and confess in our tradition – the extermination of all Catholic clergy. Fortunately, for whatever reason, the Government of the day did not take his advice, otherwise our shame would be even greater. He wasn’t all bad. Far from it. He did have his good points and was highly regarded by many. There are accounts of 1000s attending his Church Services. He was impressive to many,
However, as to Ross (this place) he didn’t think it was good enough for him. He said that it was ‘…in so desolate and barbarous a place as it is not fit…’ for him to live in. All the same, we do have to give him credit for building a cathedral here, as well as a house, a school and a bridge. In a short time he had made a name for himself and so George Goold, the Mayor of Cork, petitioned the famous and zealously Protestant Secretary to the Queen – Sir Francis Walsingham – to have him made the Bishop of Cork a mere two years later. Walsingham was famously known as Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster. Lots of intrigue in those days – I suppose there’s just as much these days in different ways, especially coming up to an episcopal election! And so it was that Cork, Cloyne and Ross were united for the first time. – temporarily in 1584, and then permanently in 1586. Cork and Cloyne separated again in 1678 and remained separated until 1835, but Cork and Ross have been together in our ecclesiastical setup since the time of William Lyon.
Because of both wars and neglect, by the time of the Royal Visitation of these parts in 1615, two years before William Lyon died, the church was in a bad state. Again and again in that report the phrase is repeated ‘church and chancell down’, indicating either the deliberate destruction of the church during, as I say, the wars under Elizabeth I, or simple neglect by the incumbent minister and the parishioners. I hope when you look back, my time as bishop won’t be characterised in that way.
However, that was then. Thinking about my own times as bishop, memories of this place was a theme I had addressed, in part, when I came here on 28th May 1999 – five days after Pentecost that year – to be installed as bishop and enthroned. And so it is that I come here once more – one last time as your Bishop in this Diocese – to celebrate with you this, now annual, Chrism Eucharist. Right now my mind is flooded with those same memories and with countless new ones infused in my psyche over the past 27 years. For all of those I thank you. My life, Susan’s life – our family’s life – has been shaped in many ways by this place – particularly the parishes all along this coast, and by you, the people of this place.
The Gospel that night in May 1999 was that of Pentecost and I took as my text:
‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you…’ (John 20.21)
That was the last of the three enthronement Sermons I had preached and, in each one, in different ways I had set out the sort of Church I prayed and hoped that we would continue to be and to become. On this day, when we come here each year to renew our commitment to ministry, I thank you for your faithful discipleship, commitment and generosity in being that sort of Church.
Today, we heard again the call of God to Samuel and we witnessed Samuel’s readiness to respond: ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ (I Samuel 3.10). I am always inspired by part of that story which refers to the lamp in the Temple – ‘The lamp of God had not yet gone out…’ (I Samuel 3.3). There are far too many people, in society and also in the Church, in our time, who, faced with the challenges and changes of these times, have given up and are even minded to think that the ‘lamp of faith’, ‘the lamp of God’ has gone out. I don’t accept that at all and I see , on the contrary, in these times countless ways in which we can be witnesses to the reality that ‘The lamp of God [has] not yet gone out …’ I remember well the first clergy clerical meeting I ever attended. It was in the late 1970s, in the Metropole Hotel in Cork, and I was a potential ordinand. As some clergy often do when they meet, there was moaning. But a priest from this part of the Diocese was having none of it. ‘ You are full of doom and gloom,’ he said ‘but I am full of boom and bloom.’ The way of ‘boom and bloom” has been my preferred approach ever since.
Today’s Psalm is a call to unity. And, on this occasion when I preach to all the ministers of the Diocese – lay and ordained – one last time, I thank you for the countless ways in which, in this place, with all our diversity, you have worked to make that togetherness a spiritual and practical reality. In this Service we are reminded, as we heard in the second reading, that God has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…’ (Revelation 1.6) and our calling is to bring him ‘glory and power for ever and ever!’
This ministry of service and proclamation is exemplified in the woman in this afternoon’s Gospel reading – the woman whose name we do not even know, but who gave everything, generously and extravagantly, to Jesus, facing great public scrutiny and criticism for doing so.
Even more powerfully, later on in this evening’s Gospel, Jesus will put his money where his mouth has been himself. He will wash their feet:
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13.14-17)
As I say, 27 years ago, I took as my text John 20.21 – ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you…’ – a message, not unconnected to the call we hear today, and the commitment and intent that we are renewing here and now in this Service.
And as I developed that theme I asked you all throughout the Diocese to treasure and take seriously the opportunity to be an apostolic Church. These were the characteristics I set out that evening of that catholic apostolicity:
I said that the Church is truly apostolic:
when we all realise that we share this responsibility and mission together. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…” said Jesus. He sends all of us who have been baptised in his name, who believe in him and who call themselves Christian.
when the people of God live and work together for the Gospel as a community.
When we pool and use together, in the words of Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, “…for the common good” the rich variety of gifts which we have been given: when the diversity of gifts is pooled to build up the unity of the Body of Christ.
when we hand on to others the life-changing stories of Jesus – the good news of his birth, his death, his resurrection, and of the strengthening and energising presence among us today of God the Holy Spirit.
when the scriptures are faithfully read and freshly interpreted in our times.
when we say, pray and live the ancient creeds of the Church.
when the sacraments given to us by Jesus as a means of remembering him and receiving God’s grace are faithfully celebrated.
when the people of God worship together and express their faith through worship – worship built on the scriptures, made real year by year our living remembrance of the charter events of our faith, and seeking ever to find ways of being relevant to the place and time in which we live.
when, today through our caring we are sent by Jesus, in partnership with other ministries, disciplines and science, to be the sign and instrument of God’s presence, care and healing.
when there is care and discipline in the handing on of order and ministry in the life of the Church, when its pattern of ministry and oversight allows orderly and faithful continuity in the handing on of what we have received. In our case, this is a threefold order of bishop, priest and deacon.
when the people of God seek to challenge and shape society, to confront the local and global issues of the day, when rather than being obsessed with self-preservation it offers itself to the life of the world.
when with openness and a spirit of tolerant acceptance we seek to hold opposites together.
Quite simply today, I thank you for your faithful response to that challenge and call – not mine, but God’s. Thank you for all you have been and are; and may God bless you all as you journey on.
Jesus said: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you…’ (John 20.21)
St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Choir will perform John Stainer’s The Crucifixion on Good Friday, 3rd April at 8pm. The work will form the evening liturgy that day in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and all are welcome to attend, free of charge. The soloists will be Conor Prendiville (tenor) and Dominic Bowe (bass) and the organ will be played by Assistant Director of Music, Matthew Breen.
Director of Music Peter Stobart writes:
Like the Bach Passions, Stainer wrote this work with the congregation in mind, and there are several familiar hymns for everyone to sing, such as Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow, and the final hymn All for Jesus. At the centre of the piece is the famous anthem God so loved the world which is very familiar to us, nearly 140 years after it was first written.
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