July '98 Around and about Dublin's
Christ Church Cathedral
July '98 Around and about Dublin'sChrist Church Cathedral | |
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The
cathedral board is delighted
to announce the appointment of a new
administrator – Mr Christopher Shiell. From 1 July he will be responsible
for the day to day running of the cathedral and for the care and direction of
the stipendiary and voluntary staff.
Born in Belfast but educated at Castle Park School, Dalkey and Saint Columba’s College, Rathfarnham, Christopher is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators (FCIS) and a member of the alumni of the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.
In welcoming Mr Shiell the board would also wish to put on record its thanks to Mr Llewellyn Farquharson of Price Waterhouse for the professional way in which he and his staff handled the entire interview process. There were some 51 applicants for the post – all well qualified. From these, thirteen were selected and nine then chosen for interview. Four members of the board – the dean, the precentor, Judge Buchanan and the honorary treasurer – met at Gardner House to meet the nine. This resulted in three being chosen for final interview and eventually the successful final candidate.
Few faces around the cathedral are better known than Andrew’s. He has been with us in the cathedral group of parishes for just one year as a deacon but in that time he has endeared himself to all with whom he comes into contact. Now we congratulate him on his ordination as priest – on Sunday 28 June. His first celebration of the Eucharist will have been in All Saints’ Church on Saint Peter’s Day, 29 June, supported by parishioners and friends and by members of the cathedral choir. We hope he will be with us in the parish – and letting us share his beautiful singing of Evensong in the cathedral - for several years to come.
We congratulate Rupert on his recent appointment as chaplain to the Anglican parish in Helsinki, Finland. He will find there many friends of the dean, who served a locum in Helsinki in 1989. He is to take up his new duties in September.
A great effort was made by all ringers to welcome outsiders into the hidden world of the bells on Saturday 25 May. The result was as good as had been hoped for. More than 200 people climbed the tower in nine groups over six hours.
Two other attractions set up proved equally successful. From 10 a.m. the south aisle of the nave and the south transept were never free of a buzz of people visiting the exhibition of the history and science of ringing. The exhibition included two computers with programmes clearly explaining the details of change-ringing, ringers demonstrating change-ringing and tune-playing on handbells, and the marvellous peal of portable bells – the only one of its kind in Ireland – which made it possible to allow complete newcomers to ring.
Two ideas motivated the open day. One was recruitment. We need more ringers. It is a difficult art – which many people would find satisfying if only they knew more about it. We run courses on Saturday mornings. Anyone interested should write to the Ringing Master, the Belfry, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin 8. The second idea was to give access to Dublin people who love the bells and may think they could never get close to them. In this we were very successful. More than half our visitors were from Dublin and many had stories to tell related to the bells and their childhood. (Leslie Taylor).
Mark Duley and Thérèse Timoney are to be congratulated on the formal launch of Christ Church Baroque, a chamber orchestra that bears the name of the cathedral and which will, from time to time, play in the cathedral. The launch took place on Tuesday 9 June, the first general concert (with the cathedral choir) on Saturday 20 June, and the first liturgical performance will be at the cathedral’s 11 a.m. Sung Eucharist on Sunday 5 July with Charpentier’s "Missa Assumpta est Maria".
The aim of the group is to give authentic period performances of music and for this instruments of the baroque period are being purchased. The Arts Council has generously given £80,000 as a grant. A governing council for the orchestra is being set up. We wish them well.
Both choirs combined to give a superb summer concert in the cathedral on Saturday 6 June – so good that the full cathedral rose as one to give a standing ovation. This was only the second occasion on which the cathedral girls’ choir had joined with the adult choir and the combined forces were heard together in Petr Eben’s mass. In the first half of the concert each choir performed items separately.
The girls have had a splendid year, which included a trip to Derry to sing in both cathedrals. The result was a bonding together, which has given the girls a super tone and created new friendships.
On Sunday 31 May new choristers were admitted and a prize-giving ceremony was held. The new choristers are Lindsay Cashin, Kate McCaughey and Laura Keville. The prize winners were: 100% attendance for 2 years: Ruth McMahon; for 1 year: Amy Lawlor and Jane Hilliard; 95% attendance: Patricia Bedlow, Judith Gannon, Naomi Denton, Paula Higgins, Kate Johnson, Helen Walsh and Amy Fogarty. Vocal prize: Andrea West. Musician prize: Jane Hilliard. Junior Organ Scholarship: Judith Gannon. Team prize: "Laserian" Laura Flynn, Rose Cherry, Jane Hilliard, Amy Lawlor and Clare Harmon. Head Chorister: Naomi Denton. Deputy Head Chorister: Rita Mahon. We say good bye to Andrea and Ciara, our outgoing head and deputy head as they leave the choir. We wish them well for their future.
The next major event will be the adult choir’s week in residence in Lincoln from the end of July and through the first Sunday in August. Lincoln minister is set spectacularly on a hill above the city. Sharing the accompaniment of the services will be the final duties of Stephen Mailey in his year as organ scholar. We have enjoyed his company and presence with us. His work, especially with the girls’ choir, has been impressive. We wish him well as he moves to Cambridge.
Lincoln Cathedral / MinsterLincoln Minster is one of the finest of England’s cathedrals. The cathedral dates from the 11th to the 15th centuries and contains the finest of the four existing copies of Magna Carta.
It also has an important treasury of diocesan silver – the first installed in any English cathedral. The minster yard has fine collection of classic houses and a superb 14th century tithe barn.
The American is a film based on the novel by Henry James. The part of the film requiring church scenes was made in the cathedral on Tuesday and Wednesday 30 June / 1 July. It will be seen on BBC TV around the Christmas period. Although production vans occupied most of the cathedral grounds, it was pleasant to have such a co-operative filming group who went out of their way to be civil to everyone and to clean up as they finished each area. Cathedral staff were invited to eat excellent food from their mobile kitchen!
The cathedral choir will finish its summer term on Sunday 12 July with a rumbustuous day of Langlais, Bairstow and Stanford. From then, and until the first Sunday in September when the choir returns, we shall have choirs from both England and the United States. It is important that we make each visiting choir feel as much at home as possible and to go out of our way to be welcoming and friendly. Choirs in July are:
17-19 Saint Peter’s
Church, Budleigh Salterton, Devon; and
24-26 Colyton
Grammar School, also in Devon.
The Adelaide Hospital has had a long connection with the cathedral but, with the Meath and the National Children’s Hospital, it is now in its new surroundings in Tallaght. The sesqui-centennial service of the Adelaide was marked here in 1989. It’s appropriate that the feast day of Saint Maelruain of Tallaght, the dedication of the local parish church, will occur on Tuesday 7 July. We shall remember both parish and hospital in the cathedral on that day.
Fr Gabriel Daly, OSA, lectures in theology in Trinity College and in the Milltown Institute of Theology. He is a member of the Augustinian Community in Ballyboden in the foothills of the Dublin mountains. His musical and literary interests are wide and so we look forward with pleasure to his sermon at the Eucharist, which will be sung by the cathedral choir and Christ Church Baroque at 11 a.m. on Sunday 5 July.
Material for the August Church Review must reach the dean by 12th July
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