There will be a vocations morning on Saturday 25th January at Carrigrohane parish hall (T12 RX57).
Canon John Ardis, Diocesan Director of Ordinands, writes:
This will be a gentle morning open to people who may be exploring any call to a vocation (lay or ordained). Lydia Monds from the Churches’ ministry of healing will be facilitating our morning, and there will be input from Rev. Terry Mitchell who will explain options for those considering lay vocations within the church, and I will explain how the process will work for those who might be considering ordained vocations.
The morning will run from 10am (starting with tea/coffee) and will finish at 1pm.
If you are interested in attending, it would be helpful if you could contact Canon Ardis via email.
In 2024, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral hosted local artist Orla O’Byrne as their artist in residence, where she most notably worked on the William Burges Maquette Conservation Project.
A maquette is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture used to help visualise the final idea. Historically, maquettes are destroyed by their makers, or sold to different art collectors, often across the continent. The near complete collection at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral is a rarity, and conserving the maquettes has been at the centre of Orla’s work for the past 12 months.
Orla has expressed her gratitude for her year spent as artist in residence the Cathedral:
It has been so exciting, fruitful and at times all-consuming and it’s hard to believe it’s only been 12 months. I am delighted to continue working on the William Burges maquette conservation project into the coming year.
In particular, I am sincerely grateful to the Very Rev’d Nigel Dunne for his sustained support and interest in the arts and for generously allowing me access to the archival materials upon which much of my PhD research is based.
2025 will see Orla working on a programme of arts events for the cathedral as well as continuing her research in the archive and coordinating the ongoing Burges maquette conservation project.
Posted inCathedral, Christian Art, Church Art, Local History|Comments Off on A Rare Maquette Collection – Orla O’Byrne works on William Burges Maquettes as Artist in Residence at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork
Written by Peter Stobart, Who is this Baby? is a Christmas Carol performed at this year’s Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral to celebrate Bishop Paul Colton’s 25 years in the Episcopate. The words are taken from the sermon preacher by Bishop Paul on Christmas Day 2016.
These stories were told and recorded to answer the question ‘who is this Jesus born in Bethlehem?’.
There is no shell hole or hell hole where the love of God cannot reach. There is no darkness too dark; for he is the light who ‘shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ Alleluia.
Who is this baby, and what does he mean for us in our time?
He is Jesus, Saviour, Messiah and Lord. He is ‘the Christ.’ He is son of man, and son of God. He is Lord, Redeemer, the Way, Truth and Life; the light of the world; the star of Bethlehem, and Prince of Peace. Alleluia.
Posted inBishop, Christmas, Church Music|Comments Off on Who is this Baby?- A Christmas Carol to celebrate 25 years in the Episcopate of Bishop Paul Colton
in the Cathedral Church of Saint Fin Barre, Cork by
The Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton,
Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
When you pull a Christmas cracker, there’s usually a corny joke or a riddle. Here’s a riddle for you from me this Christmas morning. Why would hundreds of people, with millions around the world watching on the world’s main TV channels (SKY, BBC, CNN for starters), converge on a Church Service 18 days ago; a crowd that included, presidents, one president’s wife and daughter, a president soon to be, prime ministers (past and present), kings, queens, princes, princesses, grand dukes, grand duchesses, politicians, guests, artistes, musicians, church leaders, as well as several hundred professionals, highly skilled workers and hundred more fire fighters – oh, and even Elon Musk? Why would they all converge on an act of religious worship?
Not much of a riddle really, if you follow the news. At one level, the answer is simple. After the catastrophic fire of 2019, and following the breakneck speed of the restoration, drawing on skills and crafts, many of which risk being lost to the world, the ‘soul of France’, as it’s known, the mighty medieval cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris – of Our Lady of Paris – which they started building in 1163 on the Île de la Cité, an island in the River Seine – Island of the City – first mentioned by Julius Caesar in 53 BC and in the 3rd century, site of a Roman fortress – was being reopened by the Archbishop of Paris. The great occasion even caused a momentary ceasefire in the turmoil of French domestic politics. There was the Cathedral for hours on our TV screens – soaking up prime time TV the world over – with that great symbol of France – the cockerel – a new cockerel – one refashioned to look somewhat like a phoenix of new birth, atop the spire, and with recast bells (one of them already rung by victors at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, before being hung with two others in the cathedral’s sanctuary). The restoration was likened by many to a resurrection. Let’s not over-egg the resurrection paradigm in the case of a building. As President Macron himself said ‘Cathedrals are mortal.’ As if to remind us of that fragility, mother nature, the weather, got the upper hand at the event, and much of the human planning had to be changed.
But the event pulled a crowd from all over the world. There were all those people of importance inside the cathedral, eyes looking upwards in wonderment and admiration; and many of them taking sneaky ‘pics’ of each other on their phones. I couldn’t resist a wry smile and mischievous thought as I watched all the world leaders and celebrities standing in, one by one, for photographs outside with President and Mrs Macron of France, with, as a backdrop, rather pointedly, the sculpted scene on the west front of Notre Dame, of the Last Judgment – the same scene that is depicted over our great west door here in Cork.
€700 million later; 2000 people – stonemasons, architects, engineers, carpenters, roofers, metal workers, sculptors, artists and countless more – working daily on the site for five years – 2000 oak trees for timber beams to support 4,000 square metres of lead, weighing 210 tonnes. The restoration took forensic research. It wasn’t just brute structural engineering. It was and is art. President Macron on one of his visits to Notre Dame commented ‘The intricacy is incredible’. And he asked ‘How long does it take to train a carpenter to do this work?’ “A lifetime” answered Julien le Bras, head of the firm of carpenters, ‘a lifetime!’
So, as I say, at one level, there you have one answer to my Christmas Day riddle as to why all those world-famous people, as well as ordinary Parisians converged on Paris for that Church Service, and why so many of us watched it on TV.
But why would you or anyone bother? Why bother restoring the Cathedral at all? Wouldn’t it all be rather pointless if it is only to be some relic and example of an architectural masterpiece of the past, stunningly beautiful as it still is? God forbid, but if this cathedral of St Fin Barre was destroyed tonight, would we restore it just for art’s sake alone, or because of the void on our city’s skyline? No we wouldn’t.
Something stronger and more fundamental is undergirding all of this, and underpins the efforts, over the centuries made by countless generations in every part of the world, to build places of worship, of prayer and to serve as pastoral bridgeheads for engagement with the surrounding communities.
Generations of people simply would not have bothered erecting and preserving and adorning these impressive buildings of immense scale, unless there was something truly wondrous behind it all. People simply wouldn’t have bothered unless there was something to bother about – something to motivate, inspire and transform them. We wouldn’t have bothered coming here today on this annual feast if there wasn’t something fundamental and life-changing to touch base with: the nativity – the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we accept that centrality of the Christmas story as a proposition which resolves the Christmas Day riddle I pose to you, then we have no option but to ask ourselves:
What does that birth – and the life, teaching and example that followed mean for me now?
How am I to respond?
How does this birthday and the movement it started affect and change me?
None of this would have happened in Paris, or here, or anywhere else for that matter, if the baby had not been born that first Christmas and if, in every generation, people hadn’t responded the way they have. It is what it represents – today’s story – that endures. The clue to my Christmas Day riddle is in the name of that Cathedral in Paris – Notre Dame de Paris – our Lady of Parish – and behind its high altar is the marble statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the lifeless body of her son as his body is taken down from the cross – they are at the centre of it all. She and he are at heart of today’s Christmas story too, as she gives birth to him; our saviour.
In this we put our faith, hope and love – and its power to transform:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ (John 1.1-5)
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1.14)
And one last thought from Paris. The greatest of the bells of Notre Dame – cast in 1686 and weighing 13,000 kg – is named Emmanuel. Emmanuel – the name of the child born at the heart of the Christmas story. Let us draw strength and inspiration, in these overwhelming and unsettled times, from that name, Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’
As one Bible version puts it
‘The life-light blazed out in the darkness, and the darkness couldn’t put it out.’ (John 1.5: The Message)
St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, Christmas 2024 (Photo: Eoin Murphy)
The United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross will hold over 200 services throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and the days leading up to the Christmas Festival.
The following list gives details of church services in the parishes and chaplaincies across the diocese. The list is organised by parish/location. If you would like to see a list organised by date/festival please visit our website.
For further information on specific services you can contact your local clergy HERE.
Abbeystrewry (Skibbereen)
Sunday 22nd December ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent
8.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
4.00pm Carol service in Abbeystrewry Church
Tuesday 24th December ~ Christmas Eve
4.00pm Family Crib Service in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
11.30pm Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen.
Wednesday 25th December ~ Christmas Day
9.00am Eucharist in St. Barrahane’s, Castletownshend
10.00am Eucharist in St. Matthew’s, Baltimore
10.15am Eucharist in St. Mary’s, Caheragh
11.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
Thursday 26th December ~ St Stephen’s Day
10.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen.
Friday 27th December ~ The Feast of St John the Evangelist
10.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen.
Sunday 29th December ~ The First Sunday of Christmas
8.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
11.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
Wednesday 1st January ~ The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus
10.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church
Sunday 5th January/Monday 6th January ~ The Epiphany
8.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
10.00am Eucharist in St. Barrahane’s, Castletownshend
10.00am Eucharist in St. Mary’s, Caheragh
11.30am Eucharist in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen
Ballydehob
Sunday 22nd December ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent
11.00am United Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, St Matthew’s, Aughadown
Tuesday 24th December ~ Christmas Eve
4.00pm Children’s Crib Service, St Matthews’s, Aughadown
11.30pm Eucharist United Service, St Matthias’s, Ballydehob
Wednesday 25th December ~ Christmas Day
10.00am Eucharist, St Matthew’s, Aughadown
11.30am Eucharist, St Matthias, Ballydehob
Sunday 29th December ~ The First Sunday of Christmas
11.00am United Service of the Word, St Matthias, Ballydehob
Bandon
Sunday 22nd December ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent
11.00am Family Nativity Service, St Peter’s Church, Bandon
Tuesday 24th December ~ Christmas Eve
12noon Christ Church, Innishannon
9.00pm St Peter’s Church, Bandon
Wednesday 25th December ~ Christmas Day
9.00am Ballinadee
10.00am Rathclaren
10.30am Brinny
11.30am Bandon
11.45am Innishannon
Sunday 29th December ~ The First Sunday of Christmas
11.00am United Carol Service, St Peter’s Church, Bandon
Sunday 5th January
9.00am Ballinadee Morning Prayer
10.00am Rathclaren Eucharist 1
10.30am Brinny Morning Prayer
11.30am Bandon Eucharist
11.45am Innishannon Morning Prayer
Monday 6th January ~ The Epiphany
11.00am Eucharist, St Peter’s Church, Bandon
Carrigaline
Sunday 22nd December ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent
11am Morning Prayer, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline (live-streamed)
4pm Service of Nine Lessons & Carols, St John’s Church, Monkstown
Tuesday 24th December ~ Christmas Eve
4pm Carols around the Crib Service, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline
11pm First Eucharist of the Nativity, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline
Wednesday 25th December ~ Christmas Day
9:30am Holy Communion, St John’s Church, Monkstown
11am Holy Communion, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline (live-streamed)
Sunday 29th December ~ The First Sunday of Christmas
11am United Christingle Service , St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline (live-Streamed)
Wednesday 1st January ~ The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus
10:30am Holy Communion, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline
Sunday 5th January
9:30am Holy Communion, St John’s Church, Monkstown
11am Holy Communion, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline (live-streamed)
Monday 6th January ~ The Epiphany
10:30am Holy Communion, St Mary’s Church, Carrigaline
Live streaming is on the Carrigaline Union website
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