LAUNCH OF NEW BOOK ON CHURCH OF IRELAND IN VICTORIAN DUBLIN

The archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr John Neill was the guest speaker at the launch of the Revd John Crawford's book The Church of Ireland in Victorian Dublin. The launch took place in St Catherine's and St James' Church, Donore Avenue in Dublin.

The book traces the history of the Church of Ireland in Dublin during the period from the perspective of the local community. It includes a survey of the development of the parishes and the building of churches in the city including an examination of church architecture and layout.

Speaking at the launch, the Archbishop said that he greatly enjoyed reading the book and subsequently going back and dipping into it. 'It' he said 'paints a marvellous picture of Victorian Dublin ... a scene that has changed so much'. He added that 'as a student I was fascinated by the churches in Dublin. In those days there were 28 Church of Ireland Churches and of those, I was in 21 of them. Of these, 17 are now closed leaving only 11 between the canals'.The book he said 'gives us hard facts, human examples and stories ... It's the story of an imperfect church trying to save a vision'.

The author of the book, the Revd John Crawford said that 'the book is about people in Dublin who happened to be Church of Ireland'. He recalled in particular the Dublin working class protestant community, many of whose funerals he had officiated at and said it is 'almost extinct'. The book, he added 'should be dedicated to all the people I've known'.

The book is published by Four Courts Press and is available at a price of €45.

- ENDS –

With the compliments of the Diocesan Communications Officer 3/12/04