ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΑ ΙΡΛΑΝΔΙΑΣ

Father Thomas Carroll is a 70-year-old priest in Dublin, Ireland.
He grew up rural county Tipperary, in a family with strong military ties. His grandfather fought in Gallipoli, while his great uncle was at the battle of Thessalonica during the first World War.

Growing up in a Catholic secondary school, he felt called to take holy orders but was told he was not ready, so he followed the family tradition and joined the military.
“We seem to be a family that was always involved militarily. There was discipline among us, but the rules were not too strict. Yet, I could never consider myself a free spirit,” he recalls.
It was while serving in Cyprus with the UN in the 1960s that Father Carroll’s life, vocation and future were set on a path that led him to a narrow brick-built church in the centre of Dublin. A church which stands out from others in the city because of richly gilded decorated screen which separates the altar from the nave, but also because it is orthodox.
To prevent its servicemen being influenced in anyway, the UN did not permit any interaction between them and either communities. However, Father Thomas could not entirely follow the discipline, that both the peace keeping forces and his family have edified him.
“I had a few acquaintances with Cypriots, but the only person that I had a lot of communication with, was a Greek orthodox priest in a village,” he recounts. Father Thomas would meet up with him on a regular basis, to talk about theology and argue regarding everything around it.
“We often could not agree on anything, but he left a lasting impression on me,” he continues.
That prompted him to explore the Orthodox religion further, but when he returned to Ireland there were only a handful of Greeks and Cypriots living in the country. They did not have an established community, so nobody could help him.
It was only when the Archbishop of Great Britain Methodios, established the first parish in Ireland in 1981, that became possible for him to talk to people with the same interest.
Prior to this he had contacted the Greek Orthodox archdioceses in London, but nobody responded to his letters. “They probably thought that I was some guy seeking only information,” Father Thomas says.
When the parish has been established by Methodios, a friend happened to mention it to him by chance. He then got around there straightaway, but it took him another 5 years before he decided to make the “big jump” and convert.
“I eventually became an Orthodox in 1986, so I do not do anything in a hurry as you see,” he jokes. “But after that, I was committed. I took early retirement from my job in 1996 and went to study theology for 5 years.”
After the conclusion of his studies, he initially served as a deacon for four years in his new parish, before eventually becoming a priest. And to him it is a vocation, not his profession.
Ultimately, it was the outward portrayal and the beautiful liturgies of the orthodox dogma, that attracted him to it. “I came from the tradition that initially the Catholic Church came from, with many similarities in liturgy and rituals. But after the Second Vatican Council in the ‘60s, everything changed and became more simplified,” the priest explains.
For Father Thomas, the traditional poignant ceremonies had been stripped from the Catholic faith. Services had become to some extend “protestantized” in the method of worship, minimalised. So, he realised that it was not for him.
This inevitably left a big hole in his spiritual life, that he couldn’t relate to this new situation in the Catholic Church. “This is where Orthodoxy entered my life and gave me something tangible to hold on to. Something about the church itself, its layout, the rituals even the smell of incense, would grab you straight away,” he describes.
At the time, among the Orthodox community in Ireland, there were about 20 nationalities. The original parish was founded for all orthodox Christians within the island of Ireland, regardless of any jurisdictions.
As immigration increased into Ireland, many of these new arrivals established their own communities and Father Thomas’ parish eventually became primarily Greek. The community has grown in recent years due to the increasing emigration from Greece, thus the future of his parish looks secure.
For Father Thomas, a church is a living thing and must adapt to society, rather than society adapting to it. Another reason why he admires the Greek Orthodox Church, is because it reaches out to every nationality.
“All Greek orthodox archdioceses in the UK, have up to 30% clergy that is non-Greek, thus the liturgies are commonly English speaking. Other jurisdictions like the Romanian or Russian, are operating in their language solely for their own people,” he says.
The priest believes that breaking down language and nationality barriers is very important for a modern religion, especially when attracting young individuals.
Otherwise they could be at the mercy of fundamentalist evangelical churches, while others may become attracted to radical Islam. “They are giving them something to live for, when often they have nothing,” claims Father Thomas.
He is the only one who converted to Greek orthodoxy in his family. “It did not make any difference to most of them, but I think today they would be happy with my choices,” he says.
“If you asked me how Ireland is responding to a church of different dogma about 50 years ago, there would be quite hostile reaction to it. Now nobody cares. At the last count, there were about 130 different religions the country, most of them established during the past 15 years,” Father Thomas explains.
About 50% of those are ethnic African churches. “But the people of Ireland are accepting all religions in their country now. Maybe the reason is that most of them do not go to the church themselves,” he continues.
“Young people particularly, who are carrying on the catholic faith in Ireland, have absolutely no animosity to anybody outside this tradition,” he concludes.
Father Thomas is one example of a man, who did not just follow a religion due to family, community or national traditions. He researched, reached out and when the time was right, he found what was best for him.
By Christos Mouzeviris.

A big “thank you” from the Hellenic Community of Ireland to the two exceptional actors
Marios Iordánou and Sophia Kazantzián, who made us all participants in “…the life and the fluttering of a moment…”
A big “thank you”, which indeed is not sufficient, for the honour they did to our small Community, by allowing us to be the point of departure for the dedicatory voyage to our great poet, Yannis Rítsos.
We were moved by their interpretation, they entered our hearts and minds, they enchanted the souls of our children…
Our warmest thanks to: the Embassy of Greece in Ireland;
Professor Dr. Christine Morris of the Department of Classics in Trinity College;
who was our host; to Marjorie Chambers, an alumna of TCD, who has translated Rítsos’s work, and to the students
Andrew Beazley, Paul Corcoran and Ellen Finn, who read the poem in English. And finally to all the tireless volunteers, who dedicated endless hours towards the success of the presentation, and of course to the wonderful members of the audience who filled the Long Room Hub to capacity.
Our thanks to you all.

[Show slideshow]

We have the honour to present in Dublin the world premiere of the Moonlight Sonata by Yannis Ritsos.
The two actors Sophia Kazantzian and Marios Iordanou are performing on
Saturday 25th March 2017 at 20:00 in the Long Room Hub of Trinity College Dublin.
The performance, which will be in Greek, will be preceded by the reading of the poem in English (translation by Marjorie Chambers) by students from Trinity College .
For tickets, please contact:

Michael Youlton,
email: myoulton@yahoo.com

Stella Xenopoulou,
email:president@helleniccommunity.ie
Prices: 10 euro for members of the Hellenic Community of Ireland and chlildren over 12
15 euro for non-members

Αναβιώνοντας παλιά πρωτοβουλία μελών της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας για να φέρουν κοντά Έλληνες επαγγελματίες και να προωθήσουν Ελληνικά προϊόντα, σχηματίστηκε μία ομάδα εργασίας που θα έχει αυτούς τους στόχους.
Η ομάδα απαρτίζεται από τα εξής μέλη της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας:
1. Νίκος Παπαϊωάννου ( Nick Papaioannou)
2. Πέτρος Κόνσουλας
3. Στράτος Καρανικόλης
4. Κώστας Πάλλας
5. Στέλλα Ξενοπούλου

Μπορείτε να επικοινωνήσετε με την ομαδα μέσω email:
business@helleniccommunity.ie

Dear members and friends of the Hellenic Community of Ireland,

You are invited by the Hellenic Community of Ireland to the cutting of our Vasilopita, which will take place in the Silk Road Cafe of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle on 5th February 2017.

The event starts at 13:30. The Library is open on Sundays from 13:00 to 17:00, admission is free. This is a great opportunity to get to know the library, and especially it’s Greek treasures. These include the world’s oldest extensive manuscripts, on papyrus, of the Four Gospels, the Apocalypse, and the Letters of St Paul.

There is free and pay and display parking available in different streets around Dublin Castle, including Werburgh Street.

Happy new year

Eπίσημη αναγνώριση του ΤΕΓ (Τμήμα Ελληνικής Γλώσσας) Ιρλανδίας απο το Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων, Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού και το Γραφείο Εκπαίδευσης Ελληνικής Πρεσβείας του Λονδίνου.

PDF

Greetings to the educational community for the new school year 2016 – 2017 by the Education Coordinator of Greek Embassy in London George Kosyva.

Please click the bellow link.
xairetismos

ΠΡΟΣΚΛΗΣΗ

Η Πρεσβεία της Ελλάδος στην Ιρλανδία, σε συνεργασία με την Ελληνική Κοινότητα και την Ελληνόρθοδοξη Κοινότητα, καλούν την ομογένεια να συμμετάσχει στον εορτασμό της εθνικής επετείου του ΟΧΙ για την 28η Οκτωβρίου 1940.
Η Δοξολογία θα πραγματοποιηθεί την Κυριακή 30 Οκτωβρίου, στις 11.00 π.μ., στον Ιερό Ναό του Ευαγγελισμού της Θεοτόκου στο Δουβλίνο (46 Arbour Hill, Dublin 7).

ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΕΣΒΕΙΑΣ ΔΟΥΒΛΙΝΟΥ

Please click here for the 9 June bulletin

Αγαπητοί συμπατριώτες, συμπατριώτισσες, φίλες και φίλοι,

Οι εκλογές της 29ης Μαΐου ανέδειξαν ένα νέο Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο(ΔΣ), με αρκετά νέα πρόσωπα. Η σύνθεση του νέου αυτού ΔΣ βρίσκεται στο τέλος του μηνύματος.

Είμαστε ιδιαίτερα χαρούμενοι που τέσσερα από τα οκτώ άτομα που το απαρτίζουν διαμένουν εκτός Δουβλίνου και έτσι αντιπροσωπεύουν περισσότερο από ποτέ όλη την Ιρλανδία, όπως το προηγούμενο ΔΣ προσπάθησε ιδιαίτερα να κατοχυρώσει.

Θα θέλαμε λοιπόν καταρχήν να ευχαριστήσουμε το προηγούμενο ΔΣ για όσα προσέφερε στην Κοινότητα, τόσο εκείνους που επέλεξαν να συνεχίσουν στο νέο ΔΣ όσο και εκείνους που επέλεξαν να μη συνεχίσουν.

Τα περισσότερα μέλη που απαρτίζουν το νέο ΔΣ είναι γονείς, γεγονός που  πιστεύουμε πως θα βοηθήσει ιδιαίτερα στην προσπάθεια ίδρυσης άλλων σχολικών εστιών, που καταβάλλουν συμπατριώτες μας που διαμένουν εκτός Δουβλίνου.
Επίσης αισιοδοξούμε πως θα έχουμε ανταπόκριση στην προσπάθεια εξεύρεσης διαφορετικού κτιρίου για τη στέγαση του σχολείου μας στο Δουβλίνο ώστε να καλυφτούν οι αυξανόμενες ανάγκες του. Μέχρι τώρα ήμασταν τυχεροί που η μόνη μας φροντίδα ήταν η έναρξη και διατήρηση του σχολείου χωρίς το άγχος της στέγασής του. Τώρα όμως που ο αριθμός των μαθητών αυξάνεται διαρκώς πρέπει να εξετάσουμε την επιλογή εύρεσης καινούργιας μόνιμης ή προσωρινής στέγης.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια παρατηρείται μαζική μετεγκατάσταση Ελλήνων όλων των ηλικιών στην Ιρλανδία. Ευελπιστούμε λοιπόν να αγκαλιάσουμε όλες τις ηλικίες διοργανώνοντας εκδηλώσεις και συναντήσεις που θα έχουν απήχηση σε αυτές. Θα θέλαμε να εξετάσουμε τη δυνατότητα ίδρυσης ενός πολιτιστικού κέντρου που θα ανταποκρίνεται σε αυτές τις ανάγκες. Παρακαλούμε ελάτε σε επαφή μαζί μας αν θα θέλατε να βοηθήσετε στην έρευνα για ένα τέτοιο χώρο.

Το πρώτο και σημαντικότερο μέλημα του παρόντος ΔΣ  είναι η έμπνευση αγάπης, αλληλεγγύης, ενότητας και σεβασμού μεταξύ όλων των μελών της Κοινότητάς μας.

Το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο

Πρόεδρος:
Κα Στυλιανή Ξενοπούλου

Αντιπρόεδρος:
Κος Κωνσταντίνος Δρακάκης

Ταμίας:
Κος Μιχάλης Γιούλτον

Γραμματέας:
Κα Κυριακή Τζουβελέκη

Βοηθός Ταμία/Υπεύθυνος Σχολείου:
Κος Βασίλης Βασιλειάδης

Βοηθός Γραμματέα:
Κα Σταματίνα Βελονάκη

Μέλη:
Κος Νίκος Σκευούλης
Κος Δημήτρης Γεωργολόπουλος