Under the leadership of the Dean of Killaloe, the Very Rev Nicholas Cummins, a major restoration project in St Flannan's Cathedral has been completed and another project is in hand. Both are parts of a millennium initiative designed to enhance the cathedral's role in the local, national and international community.
Some £200,000 has been spent on the Gothic cathedral. This work has included the removal of Victorian pointing, the repair of a Romanesque doorway and the reconstruction of the 12th-century high cross of Kilfenora. The restoration committee raised £60,000 and the balance came from the European Regional Development Fund.
The cathedral authorities have now turned their attention to the second part of their initiative, the restoration of the organ. It was built in 1900 by Nicholson and Lord of Worcester and partially rebuilt in 1966.
The instrument has seriously deteriorated since then and is unplayable. A minimum of £45,000 is required to make it "liturgically possible", according to Dean Cummins, but £75,000 is needed to bring it to concert standard.
The restoration of the organ will be a major contribution to strengthening St Flannan's role, not only as the liturgical centre of the diocese of Killaloe, but also as an ecumenical centre, tourist attraction and concert venue for the region.
Donations may be sent to the Very Rev Nicholas Cummins, The Deanery, Killaloe, Co Clare.
During the post-Easter period most of the cathedral choirs are on leave. Today the Ascension Singers will sing Choral Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, where they will sing the services tomorrow.
The Choir of St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, will sing the services tomorrow in Rochester Cathedral, while in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Evensong will be sung by the Chapel Choir of Trinity College.
Tomorrow RTE will televise a service with the members of the Leprosy Mission. The Archbishop of Armagh will deliver the annual University Sermon in St Andrews while the former Bishop of Cork, Dr Samuel Poyntz, will return to Cork to preach in St Fin Barre's Cathedral. In Trinity College Chapel the preacher at the Sung Eucharist will be Dr Sean Barrett.
The distinguished Australian preacher and author, the Rev Dr Peter Adam, will be the preacher in Crinken Church, Co Dublin, tomorrow evening and he will address the ordinands in the Theological College on Monday afternoon. Dr Adam, who is the author of the landmark work, Speaking God's Word: A Practical Theology of Preaching, has recently been appointed principal of Ridley College, Melbourne.
On Wednesday evening, in Mountrath, the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory will institute the Rev Cliff Jeffers to the incumbency of Clonenagh in succession to the Ven Hugh Gray, who has retired. Mr Jeffers was ordained in 1998 for the curacy of Limerick.
An act of thanksgiving for the gift of sport will be held in the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin on Thursday. The sporting fraternity of the college will be in attendance including its epitome, Prof Trevor West, chairman of DUCAC.
On Friday an exhibition of church plate from the Fiddown union of parishes will go on exhibition in the Carrick-on-Suir Heritage Centre, which is the former St Nicholas's parish church. The exhibition, which has been co-ordinated by the Rev George Cliffe, is one of a number of venues in which Church of Ireland altar plate may be seen.