THE Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Donald Caird, has announced that, he will retire from full time ministry on Easter Monday.
Dr Caird, who is 70, is the longest serving Church of Ireland bishop. He became Bishop of Limerick in 1970, Bishop of Meath and Kildare in 1976 and Archbishop of Dublin in 1985.
As the leader of the largest Protestant church in the Republic, Archbishop Caird was known for his modesty and humour; his preference for philosophy over politics; his love of the Irish language, and his quiet advocacy of greater Protestant involvement in Irish life.
He presided over a church whose numbers in the Republic have stabilised after many decades of decline caused mainly by emigration and, until 1970, the Catholic Church's strict mixed marriage rules. In recent years he said frequently that the Church of Ireland was now a confident minority in the Republic, and particularly in the Dublin area.
The Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop Eames, said yesterday that as a scholar and "man of great personal integrity" Dr Caird had given "faithful and patient leadership to the clergy and people of the southern province while earning the respect of all traditions".
The Archdeacon of Dublin, the Rev Gordon Linney, said that Dr Caird was held in "tremendous respect and esteem" by the clergy and laity of his diocese and by the people of the Republic as a whole. "This was a consequence of a number of things: his recognised scholarship, his total integrity and his wonderful warm hearted way of dealing with people."
Born and brought up in the south Dublin suburb of Ranelagh, Dr Caird graduated from TCD with first class honours in philosophy. Following ordination in 1950, he served as a curate in east Belfast; taught at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh; and lectured at St David's University College in Lampeter, Wales. He became rector of Rathmichael parish in Shankill, Co Dublin, in 1960.
He married Nancy Ballantyne Sharpe, from Nevada, in 1963, and they have three grown up children. Dr and Mrs Caird will live in Dublin after his retirement.
Interest will now centre on Dr Caird's successor as leader of the Dublin and Glendalough dioceses, which contain by far the largest number of Church of Ireland members in the Republic. Many senior clergy in Dublin are concerned that such an outstanding and representative leader will be very difficult to replace.
There is a century old tradition that the Archbishop of Dublin is appointed from among the current bishops. The candidate most frequently mentioned is the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Rev Roy Warke, who as a former Archdeacon of Dublin, knows the diocese well. However, at 65, he would not be expected to serve long in the post.