A former Catholic priest has been appointed Church of Ireland Dean of Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, a senior and high-profile post in Irish Anglicanism. Dermot Dunne, currently archdeacon in the diocese of Ferns, becomes the cathedral's first Dean since the 16th century Reformation to have received his theological education in a Catholic seminary.
The new Dean succeeds the Very Reverend Desmond Harman, who died last December.
His surprise appointment was announced yesterday during worship in Christ Church by the cathedral's Precentor, Canon Adrian Empey, and he will be formally introduced today by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, at a news conference in the cathedral's Chapter Room.
The Dean-elect will be accompanied by his wife, Celia, a member of the RTE choir, whom he met while studying psychotherapy in London. He resigned as a priest of the diocese of Cork and Ross to marry.
After applying for entry into the Anglican ministry, he completed his studies in a record one year, being dispensed from the normal three-year course on account of his previous BA Honours degree and diplomas in both theology and philosophy at at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, the Catholic Church's national seminary.
Account was also taken of his considerable pastoral experience while serving as a Catholic priest. He will be instituted into his new post in Christ Church on May 30.
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