1916 Commemoration Services in Dublin parishes
By Nigel Pierpoint
The Church of Ireland parish churches of Christ Church, Taney, and St Nahi’s, Dundrum, remembered the centenary of the Easter rising of 1916 on the anniversary date, 24th April 2016.
Prayers at both services were said for Ireland, for those who laid down their lives during the civil unrest at the time of the Rising and for the victims of war in general.
Louie Lloyd, a parishioner of Taney parish, born in 1916, had been asked earlier in the month if she would be willing to read a lesson. Her advancing years prevented her from attending the actual service but she willingly obliged by allowing a recording of her reading the lesson to be played at both services.
The preacher was Canon Patrick Comerford, a historian and lecturer in Anglican Studies and Liturgy at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, who gave a wonderful account of the history surrounding the Rising.
Canon Comerford began by suggesting that perhaps there were four types of feeling that people might have experienced in the lead-up to the commemorations. These included: 1916 fatigue; a sense of national pride; upset at the 1916 commemorations displacing the Easter Celebrations; and a feeling of alienation. He went on to say that these feelings were “mutually exclusive”.
The many parishioners who attended the services were very grateful to Canon Comerford for shedding light on some Church of Ireland members who were involved during the time of the 1916 rising. The family of the late Patrick Doyle who died in the Rising were present in St Nahi’s for the morning service.
Full transcripts of Canon Comerford’s sermons in Christ Church are St Nahi’s are available from, respectively: http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/remembering-1916-they-shall-beat-their.html and http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/remembering-1916-national-shall-not.html
1 comment:
Patrick.
The parishioners are still talking about your sermons. Those who were not in attendance really appreciated you giving permission for your transcripts to be e-mailed to them. Congratulations again, you really hit a chord with them.
Blessings.
Nigel Pierpoint
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