Deputy Editor appointed as CofI Canon

He is former Londonderry Sentinel Deputy Editor, Rev David Gillespie, Vicar of St Ann’s and St Stephen’s, has been announced as the successor to Canon John McCullagh who retired in January.

The appointment has been welcomed by both the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev Dr Michael Jackson and the Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev Dermot Dunne.

Archbishop Jackson said: “I have every confidence that Dean Dermot Dunne joins me in the joy of receiving a new member into the Chapter of our diocesan cathedral which combines antiquity of belonging to the city of Dublin with vibrancy of witness in contemporary Ireland. In Christ Church we seek to respond in service to the presence of God in the capital city,” he said.

“David is indeed already associated with the cathedral as a Minor Canon. His parochial ministry serves the inner city through both St Ann’s and St Stephen’s. This links with the outreach initiatives and the welcome to visitors and pilgrims which are carried out by the community of the parish to the community of the city on a daily basis. As bishop of the dioceses, I appreciate the continuity of witness offered by these parishes to the people of Dublin in the Anglican tradition of faithful worship and pastoral concern,” he said.

Dean Dunne said he was very happy that David had been appointed to the cathedral Chapter.

“I am delighted at this appointment. David will make a great addition to the life of the cathedral as he does already. I’m pleased that he’ll become part of the cathedral community,” he said.

Commenting on his appointment, David said: “I am very pleased to be appointed, and look forward to working with the Dean and the Chapter to further the mission of the Church of Ireland in the centre of the city. However, in accepting the Archbishop’s invitation, I am grateful for the distinctive ministry which St Ann’s and St Stephen’s Churches has exercised in Dublin over many years, and I extend my sincere thanks to all those who share with me in it now”.

Rev David Ivan Gillespie was born in 1968 in Londonderry and was educated in Faughan Valley High School in the city. Upon leaving school he worked as a journalist with Morton Newspapers. In 1999 he moved to Dublin to study for Ministry in the Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute). He was ordained a Deacon in 2001 and a Priest the following year. In 2001, he was appointed Curate in Agherton, Portstewart, Co Londonderry, in the Diocese of Connor and in 2004 was appointed Rector of Moy. He was appointed Vicar of St Ann’s and St Stephen’s in December 2008.