Raheny's Loss

Rev. Jim Carroll
Rector of All Saints' Raheny
1992-2013
Raheny's loss, on this occasion, will be nobody's gain except maybe for Jim and his family. And I'll bet they will miss Raheny as much as Raheny will miss them.

Jim has been Rector here for the last 21 years and is enormously popular, not just within his own religious congregation, but throughout the village and its catchment area, and also in Coolock which is part of the Raheny Church of Ireland parish.


He has been privileged with a fine house and an absolutely magnificent church.

The church has, however, needed significant renovations to the roof and belfry, and the heritage status of the building has called for work of the highest standard. This led to a serious funding drive, to which the Roman Catholic parishes of Raheny and Killester contributed. The peak of this activity was surely the bible reading marathon on the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.


After keeping the parish, and Raheny at large, informed of progress in the fundraising, the appeal sign has now been converted into the thank you sign above. The money was raised, the roof was fixed and the bell is now ringing again.

The Church of Ireland Parish Newsletter has come out with a special issue covering Jim's period in Raheny and his imminent departure. I'm told that Andrea has done a marvellous job on it and the proof of this and of Jim's popularity is that the entire issue has now run out. I'll come back to it here when I get my hands on a (hard or virtual) copy.

Jim and Valerie's departure also rates a column and a half over two issues of the Raheny News (21 & 28/4/2013). The issue of 28/4/2013 also led with a headline item on the fundraising described above.

My own contact with this church is relatively recent and dates from my (now departed) 90 year old cousin from Cill Éanna across the road filling me in on one aspect of Jim's colourful background. I later ended up more or less accidentally taking part in the first King James marathon. Some time after that episode I was run off church grounds by the BBC who I was informed were making a film about Jack the Ripper inside in the church. Dramatic stuff, but it turned out to be not quite so dramatic. Full marks to Jim, though, for getting involved in this interesting enterprise. By way of a parting shot, in the closing months of his ministry, he gave us Martin Luther, in a compelling reminder of the this heretic's continuing relevance to modern Christianity.

He took his last service at 10am on Sunday (28/4/2013), and what a memorable service it was. The church was packed to overflowing - standing room only, and the mutual involvement between Jim and Valerie on the one hand and the community/congregation on the other was celebrated in great style.

I think it is probably the only Protestant service I have ever been at, but I don't expect ever to be at one which surpasses it. It was a fitting tribute to Jim and Valerie's dedication to their congregation over 21 years (and in deference to Jim I had better make some effort to give Jesus a mention!).


Jim's last stand: a last look at the church notice with his name "up in lights".

Time to call in the painters.

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Update - November 2013

And the painters came and went. And the parish awaits its new Rector.

Euro2012 Fever

Supervalu, Killester, Dublin 3, 18 June 2012

Love Hate

I was passing by the apartments when I saw some people hanging around. Then I noticed the professional camera and sound crew. I wondered had the news services run down some ordinary decent criminal living in the apartments? Had there been a murder? Or were the news services waiting to doorstep some unsuspecting banker, civil servant, or politician on foot of further revelations about the banking guarantee.

Then I saw the trucks and all the gear and realised that this was no mere news crew. It was big time filming and they were zeroing in on a block of newly constructed, but as yet unoccupied, apartments. When I asked, I was told it was the making of the third series of Love Hate, a fairly raw drama set in Dublin's gangland. So my first guess was nearest the mark. And a local told me the crew had been around, on and off, for the last few weeks.

A closeer look revealed some last minute adjustments to a camera mounted on the bonnet of the car. And then it was "Action".

Had they come two years earlier they would have had some ready made drama to film as this same block went up in smoke in the course of constuction.

Happily, the building was in fact completed, even if not yet brought to market, and no doubt its letting out as a film set will help to pay the rent in the meantime.

I wonder is my guardian angel trying to tell me something? This is the second piece of filming I have come across in this area in the last month.

Update 5/12/12
In an amazing case of life imitating art, Dublin's No.1 Crime Boss, Eamonn Kelly, was gunned down yesterday, a mere few hundred yards from the scenes described above. He was shot near his house in Furry Park Road, Killester, by a member of the Real IRA.

Unholy Bodysnatchers

This is the altar to St. Brigid in her church in Killester. It was designed to highlight St. Brigid's relic which was donated to the church in 1928 by the Cardinal of Lisbon. "The who?" I hear you ask, "what had it to do with him?".

Well it's a strange story. Brigid is supposed to have died in 525 AD and for security reasons her remains were hidden in various places over the years. Most of the remains have been lost but in 1283 AD some Irish Knights took the head with them on their crusade to the Holy Land. The Knights fell to the Moors in Portugal, and the head eventually ended up in Lumiar, near Lisbon, where it is venerated to this day.

A fragment from the head was given to Killester church when it was built. It was kept in a reliquary on this side altar. The reliquary was modelled on St. Patrick's bell and was attached to the altar table.


The reliquary was stolen recently and this made national newspaper headlines. Fortunately the relic itself had been removed from the reliquary in preparation for a commemoration ceremony for St. Brigid's day which falls on the first of February.

The church has provided CCTV to the Garda in the hope it may help track down the thief. This theft follows that of a portion of the true cross from Holy Cross Abbey in Co. Tipperary. That relic has since been recovered. I wonder, however, at the wisdom of Killester's PP announcing that St. Brigid's reliquary is valued at about €10,000.


Be that as it may, forewarned is forearmed and it looks like lessons have been learned and applied to this other corner of the church, which normally houses a relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.


And, as you can see, the glass case is empty for the moment.

Update (Jan 2013): The Killester reliquary has now been recovered and is back in safe hands.

Mind the Gap

This photo is taken from the road bridge that crosses the Connolly-Raheny railway line at Venetian Hall apartments in Killester.

I was passing by the other day when I saw workment putting up the wire mesh.

"What's that for" said I, "are young lads pegging stones down on the trains?"

"No" said they, "people dumping rubbish".

You wouldn't believe it possible if you hadn't been told. I suspect they might have been spotted by the security cameras installed when the the new apartments went on fire some time ago. Or maybe the train just ran aground on a mound of rubbish. Anyway the mesh was to sort all this out.

It was only later that I realised a gap had been left in the middle of the mesh, on both sides of the bridge. Now, what is that all about? Beats me for sure. Ideas welcome.

---

So we're sorted then?

The gap has been closed and all is well.

I gather a mistake had been made.

The gap should have been much wider.

So now it's been closed.

Sleep tight.

King James's Thunder

Spy Wednesday

This year is the 400th anniversary of the King James version of the Bible. This was a conservative but resonant document and it has influenced the English language wherever she is spoken.

All Saints church, in Raheny, Dublin 5, is celebrating the anniversary with a marathon reading of this whole bible in the lead up to Easter. Readings are broken up into quarter hour slots; readers, and hopefully listeners, make a donation to the church's roof fund.

A significant feature of this exercise is the support from the nearby Roman Catholic parish of St. Brigid in Killester. Parishioners there are providing readers for many of the slots. And this is not the only example of interdenominational cooperation between these two parishes. A recent coffee morning in Killester netted over €2,000 for All Saints' roof fund.

And the interdenominational angle doesn't stop there. The Rector, Rev. Jim Carroll, is a former Oblate father who has opted for the Church of Ireland. He is well aware that Jesus didn't distinguish between Catholics (Roman) and Protestants, Jesus himself being a Jew, as was his holy mother.

I had dropped in to listen to the readings and Brian Leonard (who organised the marathon) said it was OK to take a photo (above).

Rector Jim recalls that his Uncle Tom, whose house is just across the road from All Saints, had been forbidden, many years ago, to even enter the church where Jim is now Rector. I can recall such prohibitions from my own youth, which were very hurtful, particularly when it came to Protestant neighbours' funerals.

Holy Thursday
Was out walking the following day and dropped in again on All Saints. Readings had been going on there 24 hours a day from 3pm on Palm Sunday and were due to finish at 6pm on Holy Thursday. Brian Leonard reassured me that, much to my relief, the readings are well on, and at times ahead of, schedule. Some of the readers I had heard had been making fairly heavy weather of it.

They had just started on Romans when I arrived.

I was invited to do the next 15 minute slot and initially demurred, saying that, while I thought the project was a wonderful idea, I didn't think it was necessarily appropriate for an unbeliever to be declaiming King James from the altar. I was told that there were no visas needed in this church and it was humorously suggested that I first sign a waiver in case the Lord should smite me in full flight.

I took the 9 to 9.15 am slot and read Romans Chapters 8 to 10. Powerful stuff. First time I'd ever read it. A good morning's work, though I must admit some of the text appeared to be directed at me personally. Just as well I'm immune!

At the end I was presented with a certificate to say I had participated in this rare venture.


Brian told me that there are only about 15 such events in the world planned for this time and none in so small a church as this one (Bath cathedral etc.). Rev Jim told me yesterday that there are only about 300 families in the parish (which includes Coolock).

Good Friday
I was out walking again and decided to take a few external shots of All Saints' Church, particularly the spire which is supposed to be modelled on Salisbury Cathedral.

There was nobody around but I noticed that the door to the Mortuary Chapel was open, so I went in. It's a small chamber at ground level with a dual sarcophagus (Lord Ardilaun and his wife) and stuff around the wall, including that below:


This is the nearest thing to a posthumous DO NOT DISTURB sign. So I decided not to disturb.

Then I noticed an internal side door open and wondered if it led to the belfry, so in I went. It turned out to lead to the body of the church and as soon as I stepped in, every alarm in creation went off. The interior of the church screamed and flashed, the rectory screamed out into the ether and the gate lodge throbbed to the screeching rhythym. I got an awful fright.

So I went out and waited for the emergency services to arrive. Sure enough within minutes the Rector appeared in tennis shorts and a baseball cap. Apparently the vault door had been accidentally left open after a wedding in the morning and nobody had noticed.

So the day after reading off the altar I set off the burglar alarm. I'll be barred there soon, if the curse doesn't get me first.

Incidentally, the Rector asked me if I'd seen the can and the note. I had, and had already photo'd it.


He explained that the can, note and €20 had appeared on the step outside the vault in 2009 (250th anniversary of Guinness Brewery 1759). The can and note now repose beside the sarcophagus in case Lord Ardilaun (Guinness) or his wife get a thirst in the middle of the night.

Anyway, back to the roof. All Saints is a beautiful church, sponsored by Lord Ardilaun (Guinness) and dedicated in 1889. The roof is now sadly deteriorating and needs work done on it. Hence the round of fundraising.

I have already drawn attention to Jean Shouldice's excellent paintings/postcards, one of which features All Saints.

The photo of All Saints below was taken in December 2010 and photoshopped into watercolour.



On my Flickr page you can see: a larger version of the photo; a photo of St. Brigid's church in Killester; and a photo of the painting of St. Brigid's profession from the interior of Killester church.

Also this little gem from the RTÉ Six o'clock News for as long as it remains up.