For many, the name Tallaght is synonymous with late-20thcentury urban sprawl and the challenges that such developments have presented for town planners, the providers of local services and, most importantly, the people who live there.
Yet today Tallaght has developed a remarkable sense of community that belies its size and, even more remarkably, has much of that sense of community on a shared sense of the past. Surprisingly, perhaps, the logo of the community is the Church of Ireland parish church, which is dedicated to the Irish saint, Maelruain.
It was Maelruain who founded a monastery in Tallaght in the eighth century, and later, in the 12th century, the parish was granted to the Archbishop of Dublin. From the 14th century until 1822, Tallaght was the county seat of the archbishops. The town and its ecclesiastical buildings are splendidly illustrated in Robert Newcomen's map of 1654, reproduced in the Catalogue of the Maps of the Estates of the Archbishops of Dublin, which was published last year by Four Courts Press.
The present parish church, partly constructed from the materials of the old church, which was described as ruinous in 1825, was built in 1829. It is the work of the celebrated Dublin architect, John Semple, and is similar in style to other Dublin churches he designed, such as Kilternan, Whitechurch and St Mary's Chapel of Ease, better known to generations of Dubliners as the Black Church.
The church will be the focal point for the St Maelruain's Festival today and tomorrow There will be a living history exhibition by Irish Arms Reproductions around the church grounds; local sporting events; a craft exhibition; and supper in the parish centre.
The festival will close with songs of praise in the church led by the Dublin Conservative Club Choir, who agreed to join in launching the new Church Hymnal. All the proceeds will go to parish funds in the hope that at a future date the church can be floodlit.
Today and tomorrow will be open days at the Dublin Port Branch of the Mission to Seafarers, which is based in the Flying Angel Centre, Branch Road 3, Alexandra Road. Visitors are welcome to come between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to learn of the mission work.
Tomorrow, there will be an open-air service at 3 p.m. with music by the St George's Brass Band and the Choir of St Ann's Church, Dawson Street. The address will be given by the Senior Chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, Canon Adrian Empey.
Tomorrow RTE will broadcast Morning Prayer from St John's Parish Church, Newcastle, Co Down, where the rector is Canon Ian Ellis. The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, will represent the Church of Ireland at the National Day of Commemoration in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, while in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the services will be sung by the choir of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
The Vidalia Community Chorus from Georgia, US, are visiting Ireland and will sing in St Mary's Parish Church, Killarney, tomorrow evening and in St Multose's Parish Church, Kinsale, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday evening there will be an organ recital in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, by Mr Peter O'Connor, the cathedral's organ scholar.
On Monday the President, Mrs McAleese, will open the tercentenary exhibition in Marsh's Library, Dublin. Curated by Dr Muriel McCarthy and entitled "This Golden Fleece", the exhibition will be an opportunity to view some of the riches of this remarkable institution.
Continuing in Cork until July 20th is the annual exhibition of art by members of Cork's artistic community. Entitled "Art and Community", it may be viewed in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Monday to Saturday. Further details from the cathedral, at 021-4963387.