£42,000 raised to fight malaria; Mental heath and pastoral care course; Archive of the Month ; Bandon to immortalise Graham Norton in stone
£42,000 raised to fight malaria
Derry and Raphoe diocese is part of the worldwide fight against malaria in Africa. So far, its 2013 Nets Work campaign has raised £42,000 across the diocese.
This will buy more than 8,000 mosquito nets for distribution in Nigeria. Parishes have been taking various initiatives to raise money for the charity with eeverything from special collections, fashion shows to Sunday school children raising money..
The diocese is running the project in partnership with Christian Aid and Deborah Doherty from the charity says: “A child dies from malaria every 45 seconds yet the disease is so preventable. We are grateful to Bishop Ken Good and the Derry and Raphoe diocese for their very practical support of this project and their donations to date have already saved many lives.”
Albert Smallwoods, one of the organisers of Nets Work in the Derry and Raphoe diocese, said: “We are excited to see the passion and enthusiasm from people across the diocese to raise money that can help to save lives. Marking World Malaria Day is a way of celebrating where we have got to in the fight against this disease and renewing our determination to work in partnership across the world to fight this disease.”
The Nets Work campaign is supporting Makurdi diocese in the district of Benue in Nigeria to purchase and distribute mosquito nets.
Mental heath and pastoral care course
A Specialist Course for Clergy will be held on Thursday 30th May 20131-5pm at Mirabilis Health, Holywood House, Holywood, BT18 9HF
TRAINERS: Rev. Dr. Scott Peddie, Dr. Volodimir Bezulowsky (Psychiatrist)
FEE: £18 per delegate (incl. refreshments)
TO REGISTER: Contact Scott Peddie (scottpeddie@sky.com)
This interactive course is designed especially for Ministers/Priests/Pastors and will comprise the following sessions:
Exploding the myths surrounding mental illness.
• Exploring the pastoral implications of some commonly encountered mental illnesses (depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia among others).
• Exploring the range of Christian responses to mental ill-health.
• Revisiting that Christian response: the interface between faith and mental illness.
Archive of the Month : Online publication of Killucan parish register 1696-1786
Local and family historians with an interest in the county Westmeath parish of Killucan and its vicinity will be particularly pleased to know that the earliest register of baptisms, marriages and burials covering the 90-year period from 1696-1786 has been transcribed with indexes, which are now available online, as May’s Archive of the Month.
Continuing its commitment to publish and make more widely available the vast collection of parish registers available in its custody, the RCB Library in Dublin where the Killucan registers (along with thousands of others) are held, has collaborated with Andrew Whiteside, a local historian and archivist, who has painstakingly worked through the extensive original volume transcribing all of the entries and additional information, and producing indexes of names. The register provides a particularly enlightening window to local life in provincial Ireland, documenting community experience in and around Killucan (with its neighbouring village of Rathwire, and Kinnegad) especially because it is so early – dating back to 1696, and continuing for the greater part of the 18th century until 1786. In addition to the baptismal marriage and burial entries, it further contains a whole range of administrative records recording the parish’s role in administering local parish life – similar to that of the local authority today, including poor relief, education, social welfare, road maintenance and tree planting, and overseeing law and order – which provide additional colour about the socio-economic history of the eastern part of Westmeath.
Although it is a Church of Ireland record, its remit is much wider and the contents document the lives of Roman Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter (including Anabaptists and Quakers) people who lived and worked in this community. It further contains unique references to some of the poorest people in the district whose existence is not documented elsewhere. Because one of the responsibilities of the parish was to maintain lists of ‘indigent, disabled and marginalised inhabitants’ for the distribution of poor money, the deaths of several people not recorded in burial registers are included. There are also mentions of foundlings and people passing through. These glimpses help us to re-construct society and landscape in the various localities of this parish that otherwise would be impossible.
From the RCB Library, Dr Susan Hood who co-ordinates the Archive of the Month initiative said: ‘We commend the work of Andrew Whiteside who has faithfully reproduced the contents of this early parish register that opens a window to social and cultural life in provincial Ireland during the late 17th and 18th centuries and highlights the value of parish registers for research.’
Andrew Whiteside says: ‘I am delighted to make a contribution to understanding the history of this place, especially as online publication of the earliest register coincides with the bicentenary celebrations of the “new” parish church in Killucan (completed in 1813) to meet the needs of the then expanding parish which came after the volume covered by this work. I hope it is of value to family and local historians alike.’
To view the Killucan register transcripts and indexes see: www.ireland.anglican.org/library/archive
Bandon to immortalise Graham Norton in stone
Southern Star – Bandon is hoping to lure back its best-known celebrity for The Gathering 2013 by unveiling a statue of Graham Norton.
The BBC chat show star is a former student of Bandon Grammar School, where he returns regularly in a charitable role.
Organisers connected to Cork’s flagship Gathering event, Cork Rebel Week, have commissioned a statue of Norton to be crafted by a West Cork artist. It’s hoped Norton will accept the invite to return to Bandon and unveil it, as part of Cork Rebel Week celebrations from October 14th to 20th next.
Nine Cork towns have been officially selected to host international marching bands during the event. As part of their application, Bandon organisers detailed their plans to entice Norton home to west Cork.
‘All towns seeking to host marching bands during Cork Rebel Week had to detail their plans. The application from Bandon includes details of a statue of Graham Norton, though it is not known yet if he has accepted the invitation to unveil it,’ Rebel Week spokesman Padraic O’Kane said.