Orthodoxy in the Republic of Ireland

See also: Christianity in Ireland

Later documented presence of Orthodoxy in Ireland dates from the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. White Russian refugees arrived in small numbers and settled throughout the country. The Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy was held in various locations around the Dublin Quays by visiting priests from England. However, in the mid 1960s, Nicholas Couris, an elderly Russian aristocrat and former officer in the Imperial Russian Army and the anti-communist White Army, was ordained a priest for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. He served a growing congregation of Russian White emigres, Greek immigrants, and Irish born converts out of a Dublin house chapel until his death in May 1977.^[1]

But the community continued to grow. In 1981, the Greek Orthodox parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation was formed and began holding services in the St. Mary's Church, Dublin 1. The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain and Ireland consecrated the former building which had been given over by the Church of Ireland and elevated it to the level of a Cathedral on 24 May 1981. In 1986, after the building was declared unsafe, the parish transferred to a house chapel in Artane. However, in November of that same year, the Church of Ireland transferred another defunct church in Ranelagh. The parish is currently looked after by Father Thomas Carroll. The Russian Orthodox parish of Saint Peter and Paul was dedicated at the Dublin suburb of Harold's Cross in 2001, under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate. Father Michael Gogoleff, a Russian-French priest, serves as the dean of the parish. Father Nikolay Evseev is an appointed resident priest who succeeded Father George Zavershinsky who's been in the same position from 2002 until the August of 2009. Located in a defunct parish of the Church of Ireland the community is rather large and made up of emigres from the various republics of the former USSR; faithful from Poland and Rusyns from Eastern Slovakia. There is also a significant number of Orthodox Irish; mostly converts. The services are conducted in Church Slavonic but a significant amount of English is used along with smatterings of Greek, Georgian language, Romanian, Serbian and the Irish language. In September 2009, the Bishop of Sourozh paid a visit to the Irish parishes of his diocese.^[2] In 2010 October, the Russian Orthodox Church of Ireland opened two more congregations, in Athlone (Connaught Province) and Drogheda (Leinster Province).^[3]

The Syriac Orthodox Church community is growing in Ireland. The members of the Syrian Orthodox Community who are from India belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church under the Holy See of Antioch. Most of them are employed in different hospitals and elsewhere. St. Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church in Waterford is one of the main Syrian Orthodox Churches in Ireland.

The Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church,the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia all have a presence in Ireland and are continuing to grow.

References

1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20030728112349/www.orthodoxireland.com/history/frnicholascouris/view
2. ^ http://www.sourozh.org/web/The_ruling_bishop_of_the_Diocese_of_Sourozh_visited_Ireland
3. ^ http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7822

External links

• The Fascinating Life of Father Nicholas Couris
• The Dedication of Saint Peter and Paul's Russian Orthodox Church in Dublin
• The History of the Orthodox Church in Ireland until 1987
• The Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Stradbally, County Laois
• (Russian) The Website of SS. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church in Harold's Cross
• St.Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church, Waterford, Ireland
• The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Ireland, Scotland, North East England and its Affiliated Regions