Former Archbishop of Dublin to visit Connor

Wednesday October 11th 2006

Bishop Walton Empey, a former Archbishop of Dublin, will be visiting two churches in Connor on Sunday October 22.

The Bishop will first preach at 11am in St Jude’s Parish Church, Muckamore, at the harvest service in the context of the eucharist and the patronal festival for St Jude which takes place on October 28.

The collection at this service will be donated to the building fund for St Luke’s Cathedral in the Arctic which was destroyed by fire last year.

Bishop Walton will then travel to Gartree Parish Church near Crumlin on the shores of Lough Neagh for the harvest thanksgiving and the 175th anniversary of the founding of the church by the Pakenham family.

Hercules Pakenham, brought up in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath, later lived at Langford Lodge, Crumlin, and had a distinguished career in the army. His favourite sister Kitty married General Sir Arthur Wellesley in 1806. Wellesley went on to become the Duke of Wellington, victor at Waterloo in 1815. Hercules founded Gartree Church in 1831.

Bishop Empey knew the Pakenham family in Castlepollard when he was Bishop of Meath.

Music at the anniversary service will be by the parish choirs under Fiona Stele, while Irene McIlwaine will render two solos with relevance to the harvest and the anniversary. Dundrod Silver Band will also play and a 175th birthday cake will be cut by former clergy at tea after the service.