Dear Friends,

My letter last issue was something of a chronicle of coming events, and there were  a few blanks I need to fill in at this stage.

First of all, a reminder of the introduction of the Reverend John McGinty as priest in charge of Clonfert Union in Clonfert Cathedral at 1930 on Thursday September 5. We hope we can welcome John from across the Atlantic and into our midst with a happy ‘last rose of summer ‘ sort of occasion, when amid the glories of historic Clonfert the wonderful doorway  of its cathedral  in the light of a balmy evening  can be a real symbol of embrace and inclusiveness in ministry Shannon – side.

The vacancy in Rathkeale / Kilnaughtin Group has been long, making many demands on the generosity and kindness of the parishioners of all four churches there. As we strive to raise up the right person for longer – term ministry in that place , we have been blessed by a number of people who have been willing to undertake effective interim ministries for specific periods and come and reside in Askeaton Rectory. To their number this autumn we add Mr George McNeill, who along with his wife Christine will be joining us from the diocese of Connor probably until next spring. Mr McNeill is an experienced diocesan Reader, as well as an educator of rich international experience, and as a Reader in various contexts at home and abroad  he has also been used to carrying out a good deal of pastoral work. So for the coming months he will be designated ‘Reader in Charge ‘ of the Group of parishes , and back up in matters sacramental will be continue to be provided largely thanks to the kindness of the Revds Joe Hardy and Bob Hanna. We also hope that Mr McNeill will be actively involved in the very special ministry which the churches in Rathkeale exercise ecumenically amongst the Traveller Community.

A date for diaries. The Revd Mark Blakely has been appointed priest in charge of Kilcolman Union in Ardfert, and he will be introduced liturgically in Killorglin on the evening of Friday November 29. Mr Blakely is returning to the Church of Ireland of which he is a son with much joy and enthusiasm .. at present he is a Vicar in the diocese of Rochester in England. Many parishioners have had a chance to meet him during his recent visits to Kerry, not least as he has contemplated life in the fine Rectory at Milltown, the splendid refurbishment of which is nearing completion. As in Rathkeale, so also we are grateful to wonderful lay people who have planned and sustained parish life with much zeal during another long vacancy.

But as always we gain and we lose. In mid September after three years as curate assistant in the Limerick City parishes the Revd Leonard Madden leaves us for the incumbency of Bray, Co Wicklow. Dr Madden will be long remembered here for his infectious happiness in his task, his careful preaching which always plumbed great depths, and his scholarly approach to all matters not least the heritage of our city churches. We wish him well .. and also his wife  Dr Catherine Smith who very much in her own right and also via her work with the Church’s Ministry of Healing has made valuable contributions to the counsels of the diocese.

Last month I mentioned by name our various current ordinands. One of them, Siobhán Wheeler , will shortly, as part of her  final year of fulltime training for ordination, be embarking upon an internship in Killaloe. This ministry will be combined with the dissertation- writing that is part of her course at this stage. Interns are immersed, in a manner akin to  those preparing for work in certain other caring professions, in the varied practical realities of parochial life … and given an opportunity to observe and to reflect. For a number of years  in recent times interns   were ordained as deacons, and then normally ordained priests a year later when they proceeded to their curacies. This policy has now for various reasons been changed , and Siobhán  will undertake her internship as a ‘lay ‘ person , but that should not one whit diminish the seriousness or the substance of what she is undertaking.

Talking of Killaloe — in my own rather grasshopper-  like ministry over so vast an area I like , usually in September as everything else becomes so hectic again , ‘to earth ‘ myself somewhat by sticking for a month of Sundays to one place and doing a kind of preaching residency in one of our cathedrals. So this year, on Sundays September 8, 15, 22 and 29, I very much look forward to preaching week by week in St Flannan’s Cathedral and experiencing the continuum of worship there.

Warm wishes to you all, and perhaps especially to those who this autumn enter new phases of their adventurous journey of education.

Michael Tuam Limerick and Killaloe