04.09.2026
Friends of Christ Church Welcome New Members
By Dr Stuart Kinsella
In two years’ time, the diocese of Dublin and its cathedral of Christ Church will mark one thousand years of continuous Christian worship within the catchment area of the Liffey bounded by the Dublin mountains to the south and the plains of Fingal to the north, yet it will only be one of several anniversaries being celebrated over the next four years.
The Friends of Christ Church would like to invite all those with an interest in Dublin, the church, its long and chequered history, architecture, music and liturgy, as well as in the common fellowship of community, to join their organisation to help mark these landmark dates and their importance for Dublin city and diocese, as well as Christ Church cathedral.
Having celebrated the 800th anniversary of St Laurence O’Toole’s canonization in 2025, the Year of the Normans will be marked in 2027, followed by three anniversaries in 2028: the 150th anniversary of the completion of the restoration of Christ Church in 1871–8 by the Victorian architect, George Edmund Street; the 900th anniversary of the birth of St Laurence, and most significantly, the millennium of the establishment of the Dublin diocese along with its cathedral of Christ Church around 1028 – worth noting is that while Glendalough had abbots since St Kevin’s time in the early 7th century, it only became a diocese at the 1111 synod of Rathbreasil.
The Friends of Christ Church will then celebrate their own centenary in 2029 while, in 2030, the 850th anniversary of the death of St Laurence in 1180 will also be remembered.
To help celebrate these events, and draw Dubliners, and indeed non–‘jackeens’, far and wide into the broader community of the cathedral, the Friends of Christ Church invite neighbours, parishioners, locals, pilgrims, visitors and congregation alike to sign up to become Friends at the following link (https://buy.stripe.com/5kA01O3sc4W13lu7su) or QR code.
Annual membership is €25 within Ireland and €35 outside Ireland, and contributions of €250 and over may be tax refundable in Ireland (and include a five–year membership of the Friends).
The Friends of Christ Church were founded in 1929 by Dean Herbert Kennedy to support the cathedral financially, by drawing on a larger pool of people from the united dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and beyond who were not necessarily on the vestry register.
Over the years the Friends have become an important link with the parishes, dioceses and the city, and have raised money for restoration work on the building, its monuments and furnishings, as well as musical and liturgical projects.
The Friends also undertake regular outings, and support a lunchtime lecture series several times during the year, as well as other social gatherings. A bi–annual journal, Friends’ News, is also published, the Summer issue of which will be available shortly, and previous issues can be found here on Archive.org.
Do please join, either via Stripe above; by sending a subscription, or by making out a direct debit or standing order with a commencement date, payable to the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Allied Irish Banks plc, 7–12 Dame Street, Dublin 2, account number: 15214039, IBAN: IE63 AIBK 9312 2515 2140 39 and BIC: AIBKIE2DXXX.
For further queries, contact the membership secretary, Erica Britnell at
cccdubfriends@gmail.com or 087 790 6062.