A Word from William
On Saturday 15th Dec. the Church was the venue for the fourth Christmas Concert by Anne Featherstone, teacher in the Leinster School of Music, and her students the Leinster Singers. It always proves to be an enjoyable evening and was followed by refreshments in the Parish Hall.
On the same evening our bowling club had their Christmas dinner which Valerie and I attended. It was nice to have the opportunity to congratulate the teams on their competition successes of last year.
On Sunday 16th at our 11am service our Primary School Carol Service along with their principal Iris McMenamin who accompanied the children on the piano. There was a larger than ever attendance of parents which was great to see.
That night we had our Nine Lessons and Carols service which traditionally has become an evening that we are joined by people from the wider community and by friends of the parish. As always, the service was enjoyed by all. Thank you to those who decorated the church and provided refreshments after the service.
I attended the Indian Marthoma congregation’s Carol Service, which was conducted in St. Maelruain's. After the service they showed a film, which aired in Indian TV on Christmas Day, about Indians in Ireland and featured shots taken of St. Maelruain's and various other locations around Dublin and Wicklow.
In addition to our Christmas services, we had our second New Year’s Eve service at 11pm. Traditionally we Irish get together with our family and friends on New Year’s Eve, but for those who may be thousands of miles from home New Year’s Eve can be a lonely experience. It was an enjoyable service. Thanks to Rev. Obinna Ulogwara who led the African singing and to Rev. Horace McKinley, who very aptly reminded the Indians that the ‘wise men’ came for the East
On 23rd January during Christian Unity Week we had a service in the Church with approximately 100 local secondary school children along with 30 or so of our own primary school students
It was great to see the Christian Unity service in St. Mark’s for the 1st time in recent years on Sunday 27th January.
