St. Macartin's Cathedral
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
Welcome!
The Church of Ireland - part of the Anglican Communion
Services & Meetings
(last updated 18th January 2012)
St. Macartin's Church of Ireland Cathedral has a prominent position in the main street of Enniskillen, the largest town in County Fermanagh. The church has a long and distinguished history, much of which you will find on this website. If you know details that we haven't recorded, tell us and we will publish them!
Click HERE to listen to our bells (recorded in March 2003)
Hello, you are very welcome to our website. Whether you are already a church member or a visitor, we invite you to look around - you will find much to interest you!
If you have any comments you can use the form on the "Contact us" page.
If you have any comments you can use the form on the "Contact us" page.
Four Evangelists, One Gospel
I visited the opticians recently and as most of you will know, one of the tests you get there involves identifying which of two sets of circles is clearest. The optician adds a series of lenses and wants to know if you find the object sharper with them or without them. During the Sunday mornings in Lent we have been thinking about the distinctive features of each of the four Gospels. We are blessed to have four different yet similar views of the life and work of
Jesus providing us with different lenses with which to see more clearly why He came, what He did and what it means for us.
In all four accounts of His life we see that the ministry of Jesus has a purpose, He does not simply wander through Galilee teaching and healing, He has a destination in view, Jerusalem; He does not just randomly perform miracles or expel demons, He has a destiny to fulfil, giving his life as a ransom for many. Meeting with Him changes people’s lives – a widow’s sorrow is transformed, a greedy man becomes generous, a prostitute is given dignity, the lost are searched out, the hungry are given food, those who follow him find hope and a place in God’s kingdom.
Holy Week approaches when we would in heart and mind journey again to Jerusalem, make that journey so that as you see the providence and purpose of God in the life of Jesus you might see that providence and purpose worked out in the world of today and in your life today. Don’t waste this season, take the journey so that you might meet afresh with the Lord and know his grace amid your trials and sorrows, and know His forgiveness for your sins and His redeeming hope for your life.
Canon Reggie Twaddell is our guest preacher for Holy Week; the series of united services begin on Palm Sunday evening at seven o’clock in the Presbyterian Church, continuing at 8.00 pm in the Cathedral from Monday to Good
Friday and concluding with Easter evening praise at seven o’clock in the Methodist Church. Canon Twaddell worked as a teacher prior to being ordained and served in several parishes before retiring after a long and faithful
incumbency in the large parish of Portadown.
In a changing world where we no longer speak about things being as safe as the Bank of England it is good to have the built in reminder that Holy Week and Easter bring of the eternal and unchanging message of the Cross and Resurrection. Together let us take the opportunity this special season brings to look again to the One the Gospels focus on, Jesus Christ our Lord.
I visited the opticians recently and as most of you will know, one of the tests you get there involves identifying which of two sets of circles is clearest. The optician adds a series of lenses and wants to know if you find the object sharper with them or without them. During the Sunday mornings in Lent we have been thinking about the distinctive features of each of the four Gospels. We are blessed to have four different yet similar views of the life and work of
Jesus providing us with different lenses with which to see more clearly why He came, what He did and what it means for us.
In all four accounts of His life we see that the ministry of Jesus has a purpose, He does not simply wander through Galilee teaching and healing, He has a destination in view, Jerusalem; He does not just randomly perform miracles or expel demons, He has a destiny to fulfil, giving his life as a ransom for many. Meeting with Him changes people’s lives – a widow’s sorrow is transformed, a greedy man becomes generous, a prostitute is given dignity, the lost are searched out, the hungry are given food, those who follow him find hope and a place in God’s kingdom.
Holy Week approaches when we would in heart and mind journey again to Jerusalem, make that journey so that as you see the providence and purpose of God in the life of Jesus you might see that providence and purpose worked out in the world of today and in your life today. Don’t waste this season, take the journey so that you might meet afresh with the Lord and know his grace amid your trials and sorrows, and know His forgiveness for your sins and His redeeming hope for your life.
Canon Reggie Twaddell is our guest preacher for Holy Week; the series of united services begin on Palm Sunday evening at seven o’clock in the Presbyterian Church, continuing at 8.00 pm in the Cathedral from Monday to Good
Friday and concluding with Easter evening praise at seven o’clock in the Methodist Church. Canon Twaddell worked as a teacher prior to being ordained and served in several parishes before retiring after a long and faithful
incumbency in the large parish of Portadown.
In a changing world where we no longer speak about things being as safe as the Bank of England it is good to have the built in reminder that Holy Week and Easter bring of the eternal and unchanging message of the Cross and Resurrection. Together let us take the opportunity this special season brings to look again to the One the Gospels focus on, Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are somewhat surprised that there are church members who regularly use the Internet but are unaware that this website exists! So if you find it interesting and/or useful, please spread the word around - the more visitors we have the more encouragement there is to keep it alive.
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To all our parishioners and friends around the world, we just want to say........
One of the best known yet least known poems was published 100 years ago. It is the poem quoted by King George VI in his Christmas Day broadcast in 1939. It came at the end of the nine-minute broadcast. With the Second World War uppermost in his mind, he said:
I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you:
"I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."
May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.
The mysterious-sounding words with which he finished the broadcast were by Minnie Haskins (1875-1957). They came from a poem of hers called "God Knows", in a collection, The Desert, published in 1908. Neither the poem nor its author was well known.
Indeed, Miss Haskins did not realise the King was going to quote her words.
She didn't hear the broadcast. "I heard the quotation read in a summary of the speech," she told The Daily Telegraph the following day. "I thought the words sounded familiar and suddenly it dawned on me that they were out of my little book."
The poem had been drawn to the King's attention by Queen Elizabeth, the present Queen's mother, and the lines were to be recited 63 years later at her own funeral. .
Immediately after the lines that George VI quoted, the poem continues:
So I went forth,
And finding the hand of God,
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
2011 was a remarkable year for news stories both home and abroad. Many such were deeply troubling and there is a general feeling that 2012 will not be any better. None of us know how such events might impinge into our own personal lives in the months ahead, but may all who know and love God take comfort not only in the words of Haskins's poem but also in the much older words found in Saint Paul's epistle to the Romans - chapter 8:28 :
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
William Holmes
Webmaster
I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you:
"I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."
May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.
The mysterious-sounding words with which he finished the broadcast were by Minnie Haskins (1875-1957). They came from a poem of hers called "God Knows", in a collection, The Desert, published in 1908. Neither the poem nor its author was well known.
Indeed, Miss Haskins did not realise the King was going to quote her words.
She didn't hear the broadcast. "I heard the quotation read in a summary of the speech," she told The Daily Telegraph the following day. "I thought the words sounded familiar and suddenly it dawned on me that they were out of my little book."
The poem had been drawn to the King's attention by Queen Elizabeth, the present Queen's mother, and the lines were to be recited 63 years later at her own funeral. .
Immediately after the lines that George VI quoted, the poem continues:
So I went forth,
And finding the hand of God,
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
2011 was a remarkable year for news stories both home and abroad. Many such were deeply troubling and there is a general feeling that 2012 will not be any better. None of us know how such events might impinge into our own personal lives in the months ahead, but may all who know and love God take comfort not only in the words of Haskins's poem but also in the much older words found in Saint Paul's epistle to the Romans - chapter 8:28 :
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
William Holmes
Webmaster
NEW: Scroll down to see a photograph of Rev. Sampson Ajuka - on placement as Diocesan Curate. Also, have a look at our new page featuring the Dean's visit to Kenya - click on the button above.
New Diocesan Curate
We welcome Rev. Sampson Ajuka and his family to the diocese. Originally from Nigeria, he will be working in Enniskillen Cathedral for the month of January along with Dean Hall and Rev. Warke in order to familiarise himself with the practices of the Church of Ireland, Clogher Diocese and Fermanagh in general. A service of introduction for Rev. Sampson will be led by the Bishop in (Devenish or Boho) Church at 7.30 pm on Thursday 2nd February, after which he will be working in Devenish and Boho parishes as Diocesan Curate. He is to be joined by his wife Ugonna, their son Chimela and their daughter who is named Rejoice. He is pictured here with the Dean following our morning service on New Year's Day.
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