Tomorrow in the context of evensong, the Rev Bernadette Daly will be installed as chancellor's vicar in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Ms Daly, who was ordained in 1997 for the curacy of Taney, will be the first woman to hold this post in St Patrick's. The appointment is made by the dean on the nomination of the chancellor, Canon Desmond Sinnamon.
At the same service another woman priest, the Rev Linda Peilow, curate of Castleknock, will be admitted as a minor canon, as will the Rev William Stewart, who is the priest of CORE in St Catherine's Church, Thomas Street.
Although the Church of Ireland has been ordaining women to the priesthood since 1990, bishops and cathedral chapters have been slow to recognise the distinctive role which women might bring to cathedral life. At present, only Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, has a woman canon, the Rev Ginnie Kennerley, although the Rev Kathleen Brown is to be installed in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, in January.
Only three other woman priests have formal roles in Irish cathedral life - the Rev Eithne Lynch is a minor canon in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, the Rev Gillian Wharton is a priest vicar in Christ Church, Dublin, and the Rev Nancy Gillespie is dean's vicar in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny.
Today in Cork, the annual sale in aid of St Luke's Home will begin at 11 a.m. In Dublin, the Friends of St Patrick's Cathedral concert will be held in the cathedral.
Tomorrow morning, the 125th anniversary of the dedication of St Thomas's Church, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin, will be marked by a celebration of the Eucharist at which the celebrant and preacher will be the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey.
In Christ Church cathedral, the second in a series of lay reflections on "A Faith for the Third Millennium" will be given by Dr Kenneth Milne, general editor of the history of Christ Church, which is to be published by Four Courts Press next June.
At 5 p.m. in Christ Church there will be a carol service in Irish. The service is under the auspices of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise and will be conducted by the Rev Wharton with Cor Duibhlinne.
In All Saints Church, Mullingar, the Rev Tom Gordon will lead a parish music workshop, with an Advent and Christmas flavour. This will be held under the auspices of the Meath and Kildare Diocesan Adult Education Programme, which will hold the final session of its winter workshop series on the Travelling community on Monday evening in the Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore. Details may be had from the Rev Olive Donohoe (050224143).
On Monday and Tuesday evenings in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Baroque, led by Therese Timoney, with the cathedral choir under the direction of Mark Duley, will present Handel's Messiah in a performance using period instruments.
The Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will be in York on Tuesday where he will preach at the consecration of Canon Michael Lewis as Bishop of Middleton.
On Wednesday morning, the bishops will meet in Church of Ireland House, Dublin, where the Representative Church Body will assemble in the afternoon.
On Thursday, the Bishop of Connor, the Right Rev James Moore, will institute the Rev Peter McDowell to the incumbency of Upper Malone, Belfast, in succession to the Rev J.I. Carson, who is now rector of St Paul's, Lisburn. Mr McDowell, who was ordained in 1994, has been curate in St Mark's, Armagh, since 1998.