Signed 'J', this poem, obviously seen in the evening floodlighting, was sent to the dean. It is called "On a cherry tree".
Was
Aoife as graceful, Strongbow so virile?
It stands in a corner by Christ Church
Cathedral,
masses of blossom flooded with light,
tower and buttresses
lost in shadow behind it,
rooted in bone and a thousand years of trinkets.
Amaze the mud-dwellers:
build me a church of stone above Wood Quay.
And
plant there a cherry, faithful and lovely.
Until recently they have been plastic flower-pots filled with concrete and painted black. Now they are elegant cubes of marble tying in with the colours of the cathedral stonework. They hold the processional candlesticks during service and are the gift of the Kinsella family.
The old carpet had been knelt flat by generations of communicants. The Friends have given us a superb new carpet, hand-woven with designs from the cathedral's tiles, and one inch thick! It is Irish made and designed by V'Soske- Joyce carpets in Oughterard.
Thursday 5 June at 8.00 p.m. After the business session Mr James Weldon, a member of a family of silver specialists, will give a talk on the cathedral plate.
From Rome through Canterbury and through Wales these pilgrims, commemorating the 597 death of Saint Columba and the sending of Saint Augustine to Canterbury from Rome, will converge on Christ Church Cathedral for Evensong on Thursday 5 June at 6 p.m. They will be from all denominations - and to all denominations we say: "Come and join in worship with us".
When not actually ringing bells, the ringers' time in the tower has recently been given over to hard labour! A few of us have been peeling the paint off the woodwork: the door (of Irish oak, precise age unknown), and the wooden shutter occupied by a window before the restoration of 1870-78. Also involved has been the casing for the clock weights and the great beams which support the ceiling and floor above and hold the bell-frame and the bells themselves.
Attention is also being given to the casing of the magnificent old clock which should be fully restored and in working order by horologist Julian Cosby during the month of September. The restoration of the clock, made 150 years ago by McMaster of Dublin, will mean that once more the time will be ticked off and, by cable linkage to specific bells, the hours and quarters will be heard to strike. This major work is being financed by the Friends of the Cathedral. They have also helped with finance for the moving of the Saint Andrew's bell which will be ringable by use of an electric mechanism.
A subtlety needs to be conveyed to the average reader: the chiming motivated by the clock and by the electrical mechanism is not the same as, or a substitute for, the full-circle ringing of the bells by means of ropes and wheels, by human beings. This will continue on Sundays and practice days (Friday p.m., Saturday a.m.). (LT).
The annual concert of the Cathedral Choir and the Cathedral Girls' Choir will be given in the cathedral on Saturday 14 June at 8.00 p.m. Watch out for posters.
The following day, Sunday 15 June at 3.30 p.m., the girls' choir will sing Evensong with the alto/tenor/bass vicars and, afterwards, will hold their second annual prize-giving in the Music Room. As standards are constantly rising there will be considerable competition for this year's prizes.
The Brigade has a long association with the cathedral. The parade service will be on Sunday 22 June at 11 a.m.
Within the next few months there will be major changes in the chapter. Canon David Godfrey will become dean of Kilmore at the end of June. He has a particularly long association with Christ Church as, before ordination, he sang in the choir as a lay vicar.
Canon Sydney Laing will be retiring as rector of Crumlin and Chapelizod at the end of September. We wish him a full recovery from his recent operation and a happy retirement.
The resignation of Canon David Muir for the purposes of a temporary career-break has surprised us all. We wish his whole family well and hope we shall see him ministering again in these dioceses.
There are to be four deacons for ordination on Sunday 22 June at 3.30 p.m. Candidates: Bernie Daly, curate-assistant, Taney; Olive Henderson, auxiliary minister, Tallaght; Andrew McLellan, curate- assistant, Christ Church Cathedral Group; and David Palmer, curate-assistant, Glenageary.
On Sunday 29 June, also at 3.30 p.m., two deacons will be ordained priests: Harry Lew, auxiliary minister, Whitechurch; and Darren McFarland, curate-assistant, Greystones.
All Friends will by now have received details for the Salmon and Strawberry Luncheon to be held on Sunday 6 July at Tailor's Hall, Back Lane, just a hundred yards from the cathedral. Book Now!
Material for JULY Review/News sheet must be with the cathedral secretary by 14 June.
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