31.05.2026
Next Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Announced
The appointment of the next Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in succession to the Very Revd Dermot Dunne who retires at the end of August, has been announced this morning (Sunday May 31). The appointment has been made by Archbishop Michael Jackson and you can read his statement below:
The Very Reverend Dermot Dunne has indicated his intention to retire from the position of Dean of Christ Church Cathedral as of the end of August 2026. Dermot has served as Dean since 2008. This is a sustained commitment over a long period of time. During these seventeen years, he has overseen and contributed to many developments in the life of the diocesan cathedral. Christ Church remains the definitive venue for Ordinations and Commissionings and increasingly for Confirmations, the last of these interestingly at the request of candidates and their parents. The cathedral welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors and pilgrims annually. It also holds a pivotal position in the life of the city of Dublin because it stands in its historic core. Ireland’s forthcoming European Presidency points us once again in this direction. We wish both Dermot and Celia all that is best in the next phase of their lives following their long–standing sojourn in Christ Church.
Looking for a Dean is a challenging task. Rightly, an obvious place to look is among the four pillars of the cathedral, or in this case the three remaining pillars, those who are the senior members of The Cathedral Chapter. Each of them has acquired, by prayer and listening, by worship and decision–making, a distilled experience of the person of the cathedral as well as the structure of the cathedral. Each has an accumulated wisdom about the complexities and the opportunities afforded by a place and a people, a building and a body of Christ. This is all the more essential as Christ Church Cathedral faces very soon into its millennial year in 2028. A very particular range of skills, both spiritual and practical, is needed to implement and to embed the Christ Church Cathedral Bill passed at General Synod 2025 as the cathedral moves forward with confidence. All of this has weighed heavily in my own thinking and prayer as I have sought to discern a successor to Dermot. The needs of the future flow from the needs of the present. Yet they are quantitatively and qualitatively different.
I have decided to appoint to the position of Dean The Reverend Canon Tom O’Brien, Canon Treasurer, and he has accepted my invitation. Tom worked for many years in a variety of capacities in the HSE across the communities of North County Dublin and in other roles within the HSE at a high level of responsibility. Building community and leading change have both been integral to this phase of Tom’s life. Tom’s desire to be ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood of the Church of Ireland overlapped with the education and formation offered through the MTh degree. This enabled Tom to continue in the HSE in tandem with ordained ministry for a considerable period. Both in his training and in his early ministry he was able to integrate his calling to serve across many different locations and contexts. Tom is one of the two Diocesan Directors of Ordinands. Most recently Tom has served as the Minister in St James’s Church Crinken. Building on the inheritance of his predecessors, he has opened up new pathways of every–member–ministry including the embracing of Pioneer Ministry in the expanding area of Shanganagh. St James’s Church stands on the Camino as, of course, does Christ Church. The idea of camino ties in neatly with the Five Marks of Mission and they are something that the cathedral has embraced too.
I wish Tom and Daniella along with all members of their family, including their dogs, everything that is best as he prepares to fulfil the duties of Dean of Christ Church.
Michael Jackson 20.05.2026
Dublin and Glendalough