Latest News from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Douglas Union of Parishes in Cork Gets Stirred Up Before Advent

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The traditional Collect for the Sunday before Advent (22nd November this year) starts with the words ‘Stir up’ and goes on to emphasise ‘the fruit of good works’. Generations of preachers used it as a launch pad for sermons on the importance of being prepared, illustrating it with references to Christmas cakes and plum puddings being made at that time of the year, well in advance of Christmas.

In Douglas Union with Frankfield, throughout the season of Advent, we hope parishioners will be stirring not only cake mixture but also trying out some of the delicious recipes in this 60-page parish cookbook. In October, as we entered another period of increased restrictions, parishioners were invited to contribute a family favourite recipe and the personal story behind that recipe.

As the introduction in the book explains ‘The idea for a Parish Cookbook came about for two reasons. Firstly, we know that there are a lot of keen cooks and bakers in the parish. Secondly, because of the current health restrictions and lockdowns, we are all spending much more time at home, and for many, this has been an opportunity to try baking and cooking more than usual, and to experiment a little in the kitchen.

Food is powerfully evocative. The smell and taste of a particular dish, or the act of cutting a slice of a particular cake, can bring us back to familiar family occasions in the past, or memories of loved ones who were great experts in the kitchen in their day. Food connects us to the past and it is something we can share with those around us in the present. That is why we requested not only the recipe, but also the personal story behind why each particular dish is important to the contributor.’

The book contains recipes from people of all ages. The oldest contributor is still cooking at the self-declared age of 92. There are recipes shared which have been passed down several generations, as well as meal ideas for those with special dietary requirements or who are looking for something a little different and exotic. There are stories about earning the cooking badge for the Girl Guides, curries being enjoyed in a family home in Cork in the 1930’s, as well as rare varieties of apple being found in an overgrown garden in Monkstown.

A good meal and conversation with family and friends is something we all enjoy. While the current COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have deprived us of many opportunities to share in such things, we hope this modest parish cookbook will not only be an enjoyable read, but will also help keep us connected to each other. The book is only €10 per copy and all proceeds will go to parish funds. While the churches remain closed, people wishing to buy the book are asked to contact the Rectory.

Posted in Advent, Book Launch, Books and Publications, Churches in Cork, Diocese, Fund-Raising, Parish News | Comments Off

Greetings from Burundi ~ St Fin Barre’s 150

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Today’s greeting, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the consecration-of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork, is from the Anglican Church in Burundi; from the Archbishop, the Most Reverend Martin Blaise Nyaboho. In October 2017 the Archbishop made a visit to Cork, Cloyne and Ross and preached at the Harvest Festival in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral.

As the 150th anniversary of the consecration, on 30th November 1870, of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork approaches, greetings such as this, from Cork, Ireland and around the world are coming in.

The present day cathedral, designed by William Burges, is the most recent building on the site where Christian worship and witness has been offered in Cork since the Seventh Century.

Since the CoronaVirus Pandemic has put a halt to all the traditional celebrations, different ways of marking the occasion have been put in place, including the sharing with you of these greetings.

Cork, Cloyne and Ross, is currently in the second phase of a partnership project with the Anglican Church in Burundi. The people of Burundi have lived through decades of conflict and political instability. It remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Since 2016, the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Burundi project is in conjunction with Christian Aid, in partnership with the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal. It has been supported by parishes, individuals and schoolchildren from Cork, Cloyne and Ross.

To date €70,000 has been raised. In phase one of the project the money from Cork, Cloyne and Ross was used to form three cooperatives: Dutabarane and Terimbere. Cooperatives in Matana Diocese, and Igogoretse in Makamba Diocese, working with Christian Aid’s local partner, the Anglican Church of Burundi. The main objective was to increase maize production and to help the cooperative members to move from a subsistence farming model towards a business model of agriculture.

Commitment to the project was renewed this year in order to continue training local farmers, providing storage and new machinery for the cooperatives, with the focus on enabling the farmers to get their produce into larger markets.

The Bishop of Cork, the Right Reverend Dr. Paul Colton with the Archbishop of Burundi, The Most Reverend Martin Blaise Nyaboho in October 2017 Picture: Jim Coughlan.

The Archbishop wrote:

Posted in Anglican Communion, Anglicanism, Cathedral, Cork, Five Marks of Mission, International Church Relations, Sesquicentenary | Comments Off

Greetings from Southern Africa ~ St Fin Barre’s 150

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

As the 150th anniversary of the consecration, on 30th November 1870, of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork approaches, greetings from Cork, Ireland and around the world are coming in.

The present day cathedral, designed by William Burges, is the most recent building on the site where Christian worship and witness has been offered in Cork since the Seventh Century.

Since the CoronaVirus Pandemic has put a halt to all the traditional celebrations, different ways of marking the occasion have been put in place, including the sharing with you of these greetings.

Today’s greeting is from the Anglican Church in Southern Africa; from the Archbishop of Capetown, the Most Reverend Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba. In Cork, Cloyne and Ross we currently have one priest from the Anglican Church in Southern Africa serving among us, and another who will arrive early in 2021.

Archbishop Thabo Cecil Makgoba – Greetings on the occasion of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral 150th

The Archbishop wrote:

Posted in Anglican Communion, Anglicanism, Cathedral, Cork, Five Marks of Mission, International Church Relations, Sesquicentenary | Comments Off

Appointment of new Canon of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork and St Colman’s Cathedral Cloyne

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, is pleased to announce that he has appointed the Reverend Denis MacCarthy, Incumbent of Bandon Union of Parishes, to be Prebendary of Kilbrittain and Holy Trinity in the Cathedral Church of Saint Fin Barre, Cork and to be Prebendary of Donoughnmore in the Cathedral Church of Saint Colman, Cloyne.

Canon Denis MacCarthy grew up in Gurranabraher on the northside of Cork City with his four sisters Diana, Ellen, Mary and Veronica. His parents were the Late Eileen and Colm Mac Carthy,

He attended the North Presentation Convent, The North Mon and Edmund Rice College. Dún Laoghaire When he left school his first job was as a delivery boy in Erinville Maternity Hospital in Cork. In 1980 he went to Maynooth to study for the priesthood and was ordained in Christ the King, Turners Cross in 1984.

Upon leaving the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church, he worked for eighteen years with early school leavers and teenagers at risk. He also worked as a Taxi Driver and was a member of Cork Taxi Co-op.

Canon MacCarthy recounts how he journeyed back into ministry:

I never thought that I would ever go back into Ministry, but having completed the Bishop’s Certificate in Theology in Cork, I felt the call begin to stir again in my soul.
Sponsored by Bishop Paul, I entered the Church of Ireland Theological College in 2004. In May of the following year I was privileged to be licensed as a Curate for Bandon Union of Parishes, where I served under Dean Nigel Dunne and the late Canon Paddy Hewitt.
In 2008, I was instituted as Rector of Mallow Union of Parishes, where as a family we spent two very happy years. On All Saints Day, 1st November 2010, I was instituted as Rector of Bandon Union of Parishes and have spent ten very happy years here so far.
On that Sunday morning in the late eighties when I slipped quietly into the back pew of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, little did I think that it would become my spiritual home, that it would help me pick up the broken pieces of my life, refresh me and lead me back to ministry. I continue to endeavour to love God, love my neighbour and try not to make a hash of it.

Canon MacCarthy is married to Noelle Burke, and they have two daughters, Nell and Beth, who attend Bandon Grammar School. Noelle works part-time as a school nurse in the Lavanagh Centre in Beaumount in Cork.

Posted in Announcements, Appointments, Bishop, Canon, Cathedral, Prebendary | Comments Off

Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Choir Launches New CD

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The current Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral building is 150 years old in 2020, although worship has been offered on the same site since 606AD when Saint Fin Barre founded his monastery. The Cathedral was consecrated on 30th November 1870.

Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Choir, in existence since 1324, composed of 40 children and 8 adults, has recorded an album of favourite anthems in celebration of this anniversary.

The CD entitled Let All the World in Every Corner Sing, officially launched online on Sunday 15th November, includes the premiere recording of a new set of canticles, written for the anniversary by Composition Competition winner Nicholas O’Neill.

The Cathedral’s Director of Music, Peter Stobart said:

We are pleased to be able to celebrate the Cathedral’s anniversary through the release of this CD. We were all delighted to have a new set of canticles to sing, and we really enjoyed the challenge of learning and recording them.

Welcoming the new recording, the Dean of Cork, the Very Rev. Nigel Dunne explained that the recording was completed during the February half term break, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic:

This recording is the second in recent years, and it was most fortunate that our hard-working musicians, singers and choristers put in such hard work, often late into the night, to bring it to completion. I greatly welcome the inclusion of the new setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Nicholas O’Neill, which are so wonderfully presented on the CD. I can’t wait to hear them premiered live in the Cathedral when we get past the current Coronavirus restrictions.