Message of Welcome from Canon Roy H. Byrne

As Rector of Monkstown Parish, I’d like to thank you for visiting our website and to extend to you the warmest of welcomes.

We are a vibrant Anglican church and community – open and welcoming to all. At a time when life can be pressurised and challenging for all of us, we like to feel we can offer time and space for prayer, reflection and contemplation.

Everyone is welcome at our services. Please feel free to join us on Wednesday and Sunday mornings for worship.

Here in Monkstown, we have been blessed with a diverse and generous ministry over many generations. Traditionally we have been a training parish, and for many years a curate was part of the parish ministry team.

We were part and parcel of the foundation of the Leprosy Mission in Ireland and Canon Billy Wynne founded the Irish branch of the Samaritans, using just the rectory telephone to take calls from the distraught and needy. Today we support local food banks and charities who work with the homeless and needy, we engage proactively with local issues of concern and provide space for concerts and events.

We encourage you to enjoy the facilities at our newly renovated Schoolhouse building, which has become a venue for many community activities, from yoga to adult mobility classes and a toddlers’ play group.

We even have a coffee bar, which is open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10:30 to 12:30. The Schoolhouse is a renovation project we are very proud of, and it has become a focal point for all in the surrounding area.

It is very symbolic that we conclude every act of church worship with a blessing and dismissal which encourages us to go back into the highways and byways to share the words of the Gospel we have heard in church, with those we encounter outside the church walls. It is not just an end to the service, it is a re-commissioning of us, for the work of mission and ministry. The church and its work and witness do not ‘clock off’ after a liturgical service but all present are commissioned afresh to go out into the world and do the work of prophets and evangelists and to bring that good news to those outside.

We hope to see you soon.

With every blessing

Canon Roy H Byrne
Rector of Monkstown