Birr people take part in important Dublin service

A COUPLE of Birr people, Ian Coulter and Rita Kelly, recently took part in an Interdenominational Service, in Irish, at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
Organized by An Cumann Gaelach (The Irish Guild of the Church of Ireland) the Service included the famous soprano Celine Byrne singing nine hymns in Irish. The new Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Emma Blain, read the Lesson in Irish.
“It was wonderful to invite Rev'd Canon Ian Coulter as one of the Celebrants of this annual Interdenominational Service in Christ Church Cathedral,” Rita Kelly told the Midland Tribune afterwards. “Canon Ian lives in Kilkenny and is Priest-in-Charge of Templemore, Thurles & Kilfithmone Group of Parishes. He is very much a Birr man with many stories and insights. He was delighted to meet other Birr people at the Service, including Mary Boissel/Corcoran. He took Irish in his degree at the University of Ulster and therefore has a lovely fluent command of the language.”
The other Celebrant was Canon Pádraig Ó Baoill, a Dubliner, belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and their Coiste Tréadach/Pastoral Committee. Canon Pádraig is a member of Cumann na Sagart / Society of Priests - who speak Irish. The Interdenominational Service is a very special Service, held during Christian Unity Week, within the magnificent surrounds of Christ Church.
Rev'd Canon Helen Oxley preached during the event. Rev Oxley is another clergy person with great Irish. Her Sermon centred on the celebration of 1,700 years of the Nicene Creed. She outlined a very good background to 325 in Nicea and how the Creed grew out of conflict at that First Council of Nicea - present-day Iznik in Turkey. She spoke about the relevance of the Creed today and of our beliefs in a changing world. Canon Helen lives in Tullow, Co Carlow and she is also Principal of the Primary School in Kiltegen, Co Wicklow. “We were delighted to congratulate her,” said Rita, “as she had just been appointed Canon that very day, to St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny.”
Rita, as Development Officer with Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise/Irish Guild of the Church of Ireland, has many different roles. Primarily, she is involved in the promotion of the Irish language for worship throughout the entire country. That means she travels a good deal, as she believes that meeting people, in this case clergywomen and clergymen, face to face, is the most effective way of promoting Irish. The Cumann has a long and illustrious history since its founding in 1914 by Douglas Hyde, Roger Casement and others. “We may thank Douglas Hyde,” Rita pointed out, “for the fact that we all, outside of the Gaeltachtaí, speak Irish because of his courage and vision in being a founder member of Conradh na Gaeilge in 1893.”
Rita travels to Wales on the invitation of the Archbishop Andrew John, to see how the Welsh language is a strong element of the Church in Wales. She has spoken recently to the students at St Padarn's Theological Institute in Cardiff, to outline what she does in Ireland and what the parallels are with Wales and Welsh. She hopes to get to the Isle of Man this year to observe the resurgence of Manx Gaelic and how it is being used in worship there.
In Christ Church Rita issued an invitation to the newly-elected Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Emma Blain, to read in Irish. “Everyone was delighted that she accepted,” commented Rita, “made the time to greet people and she read from Isaiah. Many years ago I was Writer-in-Residence for County Laois, and one of the strong participants then was Arthur Broomfield from Ballyfin, who did his doctorate on Beckett, and is an uncle of Emma Blain, the Lord Mayor.”
As the Former President, Mary McAleese, is a Lay Canon of Christ Church Cathedral and a marvellous Irish speaker, Rita invited her to attend. “It was lovely how she came and sat with the congregation,” recalled Rita. “She stayed for tea and refreshments, which was down in the Crypt. She had stories to tell and talked to everyone for ages. Of course, she remembered her visit to the outstanding Birr Theatre and Arts Centre when she was President.”