Tributes Paid to Former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral; Donald Davison tribute; More couples in Ulster tie the knot – and get divorced; Tickets for Carol Concert
Tributes Paid to Former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral
The Very Revd Thomas Salmon, who had been Dean of Christ Church Cathedral for over 20 years, died on July 20 aged 101 at Brabazon House, Sandymount, where he had lived for a number of years. His Funeral Service, which was conducted by the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Very Revd Victor Stacey, took place in the Victorian Chapel of Mount Jerome Crematorium on Thursday July 25.
Paying tribute to his granduncle, Canon Ian Sherwood OBE said: “His peaceable life was almost entirely lived in a society that was shaped by the tumultuous events of the 20th century: the Great War, the Irish Civil War and Free State, the Cold War, the Second World War, national poverty, extremists in Ireland. Yet [Dean] Salmon maintained a quietness and confidence through decades of revolutionary change. In his sanctity, humour, and neighbourliness, many found a mentor who took them out of the peculiarities of our society to what ultimately mattered and to the eternal life into which we are baptized”.
Dean Thomas Noel Desmond Cornwall Salmon was born on February 5 1913 and educated at Trinity College Dublin. He was ordained a deacon in 1937 and a priest in 1938 in Down and Connor. He served curacies in Bangor (1937–40), St James’ in Belfast (1940–41) and Larne and Inver (1942–44). He was Clerical Vicar of Christ Church Cathedral in 1947 before serving as curate in Rathfarnham (1946–50). He went on to become rector of Tullow (1950–62), St Ann’s (1962–7) and became Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in 1967 where he remained until his retirement in 1988. He was also rector of the Christ Church Group of Parishes from 1977 to 1988. He was Examining Chaplain to the Archbishops of Dublin from 1949 to 1988.
A noted ecumenist, he took a lively interest in the work of ARCIC II and had a warm relationship with Archbishop Dermot Ryan. It was during Dean Salmon’s time that there was an increased interchange between Roman Catholics and the Church of Ireland encouraged by such civic occasions as the annual November Citizenship service or by celebrations of the life of Archbishop St Laurence O’Toole, patron saint of Dublin.
Donald Davison
The death took place yesterday of Dr Donald Davison, retired university lecturer, and organist of Dt John’s Parish Church, Belfast. Dr Davison played a leading role in the production of the Church Hymnal, and Bishop Harold Miller, as Chair of the Liturgical Advisory Committee has paid the following tribute to him.
“As chair of the Liturgical Advisory Committee, and of the Hymnal Supplement Committee, I wish to express something of our deep sense of loss at the death of Donald Davison earlier this week.
“I first met Donald in his academic role in the world of mathematics at Queen’s University Belfast. Maths and Music were his particular areas of gifting, and lived out with equal passion and ability.
“He had a profound role in the music of Church Hymnal 5, which can be seen alone by how often his name occurs in the music of that volume. But his whole life was undergirded by a deep and intelligent Christian faith. In his most recent work on the Hymnal Supplement, he never missed a word, or even a comma, and would fearlessly but gently challenge any theology he considered to be inadequate: and he knew a great deal about theology from his wide reading.
“We will miss Donald greatly, and I wish to convey, on behalf of the LAC and Supplement Committee, and on my own behalf, our love and assurance of prayer to his wife, Rosemary, who was just preparing to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary, and to the wider family.”
Donald Davison was educated at RBAI (Head Boy 1954-55), and at QUB where he later lectured. He was the son-in-law of the late Canon Tom Haughton MBE, formerly rector of Upper Falls Parish, Connor.
More couples in Ulster tie the knot – and get divorced
News Letter – The number of divorces in Ulster climbed slightly last year – but is still below pre-recession levels.
The peak year for number of divorces was in 2007, when 2,913 divorces were granted.
But last year the figure was 2,444, up by about 100 on the previous year.
All this is against a backdrop of slightly more marriages in 2012, when 8,480 tied the knot, up from 8,366 the previous year.
However this is still a far cry from the top figure of 12,297 recorded in 1970.
Asked about the reduced level of divorces since 2007, Dr Ann Marie Gray, senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Ulster, said: “Some people think it’s partly to do with the recession; for economic reasons people are choosing to stay together, and because if there’s a divorce usually there’s a house to be sold – but because of the drop in the housing market that’s difficult.”
Overall she believes marriage rates have declined for decades and this is likely to continue, in large part due to more couples happy to live together out of wedlock.
Other figures released yesterday by Northern Ireland’s Statistics and Research Agency show that brides and grooms are marrying later, with the average age of men walking down the aisle being 33.7 years in 2012 (compared to 29 years in 1992), and brides averaging 31.5 years old (compared to 27 in 1992).
Win tickets for Carol Concert
Christ Church Cathedral has announced the return of the annual sell-out concert “Carols by Candlelight”. And they have two tickets to be drawn from those who complete a simple, short survey of how the Cathedral’s newsletter could be improved. See-
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e7xes41khjsh0wx9/a0163hjv5qqf2/greeting