Good Book Shop celebrates it’s anniversary at St Anne’s; Bid For St Fin Barre’s; Two milestones in Derry initiative reached; Coming events; Former church repossessed by Nama
Good Book Shop celebrates it’s anniversary at St Anne’s
Staff members of the Good Book Shop past and present recently gathered in St Anne’s Cathedral for a special service of Choral Evensong to celebrate the shop’s 10th anniversary.
The preacher was Rt Revd Patrick Rooke, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, who was also a former chairman of the board of directors for the bookshop.
“Christian bookshops provide a vital service to the Church and religious books and publications provide an essential aid to our public and private devotions,” he said.
Looking back over ten years Bishop Rooke praised the “leadership and service” given by Rosemary Peters Gallagher, the Board’s present chairperson; the Joint Committee of the two Diocesan Councils; and the shop’s managers – initially, Evelyn Lewis, followed by Richard Ryan – and their past and present staff.
Even though the Bishop highlighted the challenges that online shopping has posed to the book trade he acknowledged that, “For ten yearsyou have fulfilled a crucial role and my fervent hope is that you will continue to do so for many years to come … [T]he service offered by the Good Book Shop has been second to none.”
Bid For St Fin Barre’s
Excitement is building with less than one week to go until 700 lots go under the hammer in aid of the St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral Conservation Project.
The auction is expected to raise thousands of euros for this most worthy cause. Historic Fota House will host the auction which takes place at 10.30am on Tuesday next, 28th May 2013. Viewing dates for the auction at Fota House are 25th May, 26th and 27th and a full online catalogue is now available to view at www.sheppards.ie. F
or the first time, three of Cork’s arts and heritage institutions are working together to make this event a success – the Crawford Gallery hosted the launch of the auction, Fota House in hosting the viewing and sale, and Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral in following through the most generous offer from Sheppard’s Irish Auction House to conduct the sale pro bono for the Cathedral’s ongoing conservation programme.
Michael Sheppard, Director of Sheppard’s Irish Auction House and Head of the Sale said: “Many of the donated items are of superb quality. This is remarkably so in relation to the provincial Irish silver, the Picasso lithograph and numerous other outstanding items. Already, this auction has become a lightning rod for positive civic engagement, both individual and corporate, that is nothing short of astounding.” Pablo Picasso’s Feminité (243), a limited edition print, a Cork tazza (114) by William Clarke, dated c.1720, an Arcadian painting by Northumbrian artist William Irving (299) and a bottle of Chateau Petrus (236) donated and signed by Michael Flatley, are expected to be among the highlights of the sale. These four items alone have a pre–sale estimate of €25,000.
Other items for auction are a large pair of estate Sphinxes (374), an Irish George II library chair (290), an eighteenth–century Irish breakfront hall table (282), a signed Irish William IV sundial (538), and a platinum and diamond ring (31).
The Dean of Cork, Very Revd Nigel Dunne, said, “I have often spoken of the importance of major heritage landmarks in Cork working together – the wonderful response to our call for items for sale in the auction is indicative of the strength of such co–operation. We are expecting thousands of people through the doors of Fota House over the three viewing days from 25th May to 27th and on the day of the sale on 28th May. It is a most appropriate venue for this kind of event, not least because there is something very apt in two historic locations complementing each other’s significance.” Chairman of the Auction Committee,
John R. Bowen said: “I’m delighted to confirm that up to 700 lots have been donated for the Bid for St. Fin Barre’s Charity Auction, including a Picasso print, some rare items of Cork and Limerick silver and many other unique items donated from private estates. Interest in the auction so far has been overwhelmingly positive, so we’re expecting huge interest from prospective bidders once viewings begin next Saturday, 25th May.”
Further information on the auction is available at www.sheppards.ie or from the Cathedral Office at www.cathedral.cork.anglican.org. In addition to the online catalogue, a printed catalogue is available from Sheppards Irish Auction House or from the Cathedral Office.
Two milestones in Derry initiative reached
Two remarkable milestones have been reached by the ‘A Free Gift For All’ project in Derry / Londonderry. The leaders of the four main churches in the city made a symbolic presentation of a signed copy of the last copy to Ms Elizabeth (Lil) McLaughlin. Ms McLaughlin is one of our most senior citizens, at 100 years old, and remembers witnessing Amelia Earhart’s famous landing in the city.
The presentation, on 15 April, to the Mayor marked the first copy to be given as part of ‘A Free Gift For All’ – an initiative to give out 40,000 free commemorative copies of St Luke’s Gospel across the city.
The church leaders marked the successful completion of the project by visiting Ms McLaughlin on Tuesday 21 May and presenting her with her own copy of Luke’s Book. Remarkably Lil McLaughlin saw Amelia Earhart when she landed in the field on the edge of the city. Bishop Ken Good was able to tell her that Amelia Earhart used the phone in the See House to tell the world of her achievement. Elizabeth (Lil) was born 100years ago on a farm in Ardmore, one of 12 children.
A spokesperson for the church leaders said, “Ms McLaughlin is clearly a remarkable lady She is a woman of strong faith. Despite the ups and downs of her life she has always had the attitude that it is God’s will and has accepted whatever life brought.”
He continued “This is a wonderful way of marking a number of milestones – the delivery of gospels to every home in the city, the working together of churches across the community and Ms McLaughlin’s remarkable life.”
With poor eyesight Ms McLaughlin is currently having Luke’s book, which was delivered to her home, read to her by her niece.
She spent her early years on a farm before moving into the city. She spent many years working in Goorwich’s fashion shop, as well as other businesses in the city. Displaying a remarkable energy she worked until about 20 years ago. At 99 years old she crossed the Peace Bridge and “thought it was lovely”.
A Free Gift for All is an unprecedented initiative by churches from across the city community. Hundreds of volunteers from across the community came together to ensure that specially illustrated copies of Luke’s Gospel were hand–delivered to every home in Derry / Londonderry.
Coming events
Today (Saturday) the Bishop of Cork will give the keynote address at a diocesan conference, ‘Connecting with Communities’, in St Luke’s Home Education Centre.
The Irish Genealogical Research Society will have an Open Day in Dublin City Library & Archives, Pearse Street. Among the speakers will be Mark Williams, whose Anglican Record Project includes transcriptions of Church of Ireland parish registers. These are hosted on the RCB Library pages of the Church of Ireland website.
Tomorrow (Sunday) BBC Songs of Praise will be broadcast from St Macartin’s cathedral, Enniskillen.
The Archbishop of Dublin will preside at the GFS service in Redcross while in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, the preacher at the Patronal Festival Eucharist will be the Revd Nancy Gosling from Connecticut who is on a sabbatical from the Episcopal Church in the USA.
An Open Air Service of Praise will be held at St Doulagh’s church, Balgriffin, at 3.30pm with music from the 1st Dublin Coy BB Brass Band and the Conservative Male Voice Choir.
In St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh at 4.15pm the William Lauder memorial organ recital will be given by Adrian McLaughlin while in St Pappan’s church, Santry, at 7.30pm, the Revd David Oxley will conduct a concert by the Tullow Singers in aid of Finglas parish funds.
On Tuesday the Meath & Kildare Electoral College will re–convene in Christ Church cathedral Dublin, to elect a successor to Dr Richard Clarke, now Archbishop of Armagh.
The lunchtime recital in St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick in Wednesday will be given by Helen Houlihan (soprano) and Irina Dernova (piano) and on Thursday in Dublin the Assistant Organist of St Patrick’s cathedral, David Leigh, will give a recital in Whitefriars Street church at 8pm
The new Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh, the Revd Ferran Glenfield, will be consecrated in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh next Friday. He was ordained in 1991 and served as curate and a rector in the Diocese of Cork before his appointment as Rector of Kill o’ the Grange , Dublin, in 1996 Since 2012 he has been Rector of Hillsborough in the Diocese of Down. – Irish Times C of I correspondent
Former church repossessed by Nama
A deconsecrated Methodist church in south Belfast is repossessed by the Irish government’s National Asset Management Agency.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22660455