In recent years, when apparently fewer people are concerned with institutional religion, there has been a marked increase in interest in church records.
Much of this has been fuelled by the worldwide fascination with genealogy and family history but there has been a steady renewal of interest in ecclesiastical history at national and, particularly, local level.
In Ireland, the success of local history courses, notably the dynamic Master in Local History course in NUI Maynooth, and the flourishing of local history societies has provided opportunities to train a new generation of local historians. At the same time, this has supplied a potential readership for new publications which seek to equip neophyte historians with basic information. One such publication is Irish Church Records.
Originally published in 1992, Irish Church Records was a pioneering work which, in one volume, offered researchers introductory essays on the records of the four main churches in Ireland, and on the smaller religious communities - Quakers, Baptists, Jews and Huguenots.
The new edition retains the format of the original publication but has been updated in the light of the advances in church archives over the last decade.
Contributors include Richard S. Harrison (Society of Friends), Dr Raymond Refausse (Church of Ireland), the Rev Robin Roddie (Methodist Church) and Mr Raphael Siev (Dublin Jewish community).
Irish Church Records is edited by Dr James Ryan and is published by the Flyleaf Press, Dublin, at £22.05 in paperback and £29.93 in hardback.
As part of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Mothers' Union a "pod" containing the five objects of the MU, is making a "Journey of Hope" through each of the dioceses of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The pod arrived in the Diocese of Dublin yesterday and will be taken to Glendalough today and on to Aughrim where it will be handed over to the Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory. A variety of events have been planned to mark the journey through Ireland, culminating from the Diocese of Connor to Scotland on August 14th.
Tomorrow, RTE will televise a service of Holy Communion with the Rev Gillian Wharton and the Dublin and Glendalough youth ministry. In St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the service will be sung by the St Mary's Scholars from Warwick. In the afternoon, there will be a service to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of the former British Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Christopher Ewart Biggs, at which the address will by given by the current ambassador, Sir Ivor Roberts.
On Monday, the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, returns from a week-long stay in Westminister Abbey where they sang the Sunday services and weekday Evensongs.
The Ardamine Union summer bazaar will be held on Wednesday in the River Chapel Community Centre beginning at 7 p.m.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the choir of the Grace Church on the Hill, Toronto. The lunchtime organ recital in St Ann's Church, Dublin, on Thursday will be given by Mr Graham Walsh from St Paul's Church, Glenageary. Admission is free.
In Co Cork, the third recital in the annual festival of classical music in St Barrahane's Church, Castletownshend, will be given by Mr Peter Sweeney, Mrs Helen Roycroft and Mr David Agnew.