Galway Advertiser 1984/1984_08_30/GA_30081984_E1_010.pdf 

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O c c a s i o n a l c o n t r i b u t o r t o t h e Galway Advertiser - J e f f JJ C o u n c i l c o n t i n u e s h i s p r o f i l e o n G a l w e g i a n s w i t h this interview.
S h o r t l y a f t e r the Galway Advertiser pub l i s h e d the R e v . L e s l i e F o r r e s t ' s letter e x p l a i n i n g w h y he w o u l d not b e a t t e n d i n g the c e r e m o n i e s at U . C . G . honouring President R e a g a n , some o n e h e w a s talking to a b o u t the visit a n d the p l a n n e d p r o t e s t h a p p e n e d to r e m a r k , " W e l l , it's g o o d to see that y o u ' r e not o n e o f those ' t a m e ' protestants a n y w a y " . O b v i o u s l y the s p e a k e r m e a n t it as a c o m p l i m e n t a n d it w a s a l l o w e d to p a s s as s u c h , b u t thinking a b o u t it a f t e r w a r d s R e v . F o r r e s t f o u n d that it b o t h i r r i t a t e d a n d d i s t u r b e d h i m . It w a s n ' t so m u c h this p a r t i c u l a r r e m a r k that r a n k l e d as it w a s w h a t r e m a r k s o f this k i n d unconsciously i m p l i e d . F o r w h a t the speaker's r e m a r k i n s i n u a t e d w a s that most protestants, especially p r o t e s t a n t c l e r g y m e n , w e r e 'tame', that is, u n w i l l i n g o r u n a b l e to m a k e the kind o f p r i n c i p l e d s t a n d that the R e v . F o r r e s t h a d m a d e . A n d that, he told m e , w a s s i m p l y not t r u e . " T h e C h u r c h that I b e l i e v e in, the C h u r c h that I s e r v e , is c o m p o s e d o f just as m a n y p r i n c i p l e d m e n a n d w o m e n as a n y o t h e r C h u r c h . S o it w a s as if I was being complimented for doing s o m e t h i n g that w a s q u i t e out o f c h a r a c t e r f o r a c l e r g y m a n o f the C h u r c h o f I r e l a n d " . W h a t disturbed him about the remark, however, was the uncomfortable grain of truth lodged in it, at least so far as it alluded to the past history of the Church of Ireland. M a n y people, he acknowedged, still thought of the Church of Ireland as exclusively the Church of the old A n g l o Irish ascendancy, better known for its embodi ment of the values and virtues of social position and landed wealth than for any specifically Christian qualities. It w a s , in s h o r t , the Established Church of the ruling class, and its clergymen were often the younger sons of landed families, preoccupied with obtaining a good living. A n d this caricature, for so it is, has nevertheless created a very durable image of the typical Church of Ireland clergyman, as the remark made to the Rev. Forrest demonstrates. Leslie Forrest was born in 1946 in Wexford, where his father was the Rector of Inch. His mother was a native of W e x f o r d , while his father's family were Dubliners for a good few generations back. Rev. Forrest told me that he had only recently discovered from old city records that his great grandfather had been made a freeman of the City of Dublin in 1741. As his father was a Rector, I asked if there was a tradition in the family of taking orders. H e replied that as far as he was aware his father was the first of the family to do so; if there was any 'tradition' it was that of the Dublin merchant. Rev. Forrest comes, perhaps surprisingly, from a large family; he has four brothers, all of whom now live in Canada, and two sisters, married and living in Ireland. I told him that that sounded more like the traditional Catholic family. With a laugh he replied that, yes, that had been pointed out to him on more than one occasion. What about his brothers, I asked; had any of them gone into the Church? " W e l l , my second eldest brother was supposed to take orders, but then he decided that it just wasn't for him. That's when he went out to Canada, and for a rime pretty much gave up religion altogether. But he gradually returned and, although he is not a cleric, he is a Professor of Religion in a Canadian university". O n the morning I went to see him, our conversa tion touched briefly on the recent Reagan visit and he told me that he had been very pleased to receive that morning a letter of support for the stand he had taken from one of his old teachers, John D e Courcy Ireland. Leslie Forrest had attended Kingstown School in Avoca--now known as N e w Park Comprehensive--and D e Courcy Ireland was for a number of years Senior Master in the School. H e spoke with great warmth and admiration of his former teacher. " I think he has been one of the strongest influences on my life and the direction it has taken. Certainly the impact of his ideas and his practical work in those areas he has made his o w n are what justify me in thinking of myself as a socialist".

Not a 'Tame' Protestant Clergyman
But a number of things were apparently working together. There was the influence of John D e Couracy Ireland, whose practical idealism and concern for social justice obviously played its part. A n d of course my father talked to me about it, perhaps especially after my brother had given up his studies, though there certainly wasn't any pressure put on me. M y father was also very friendly with Archbishop The newly-ordained the Rector of Galway and clergyman's first appoint Kilcummin, but also the ment was as a curate in custodian of one of the parish Letterkenny. They spent most ancient three years in Letter churches in I r e l a n d . kenny, and Avril Forrest Altogether, he told me, taught the first two years the congregation 'on the some before their first child, books' numbers four to five hundred Fiona, was b o m . In 1973 the Rev. people, but in practice Forrest became Rector of any particular Sunday Ramelton, Tullyauginish, will see a congegation of Kilmacrenan, KiUygarvan, about one hundred and persons, with and Rathmullin. I n fifty theory, a Rector is the numbers swelling at the head priest of a church; in great festivals of Easter practice, it seems to mean and Christmas, and also

building is sacred anymore, not even a church, and Rev. Forrest deeply regretted the fact that because of acts ot vandalism he was obliged to keep the church locked. He felt very strongly that this was wrong, that a church--of all places-- ought to be seen and respected as a place of refuge, of sanctuary.

M r s . Forrest, while no M r s . P r o u d i e , is no mere shadow.

M r s . Forrest, while' certainly no M r s . Proudie, is no mere shadow of her husband either. O f course she is very much involved in church work, but she has involved herself in many other areas as well, most notably the Galway Arts Committee, of which she is at t h e moment chairperson. She also occasionally reviews books for the Connacht Tribune, and has done a fair bit of sub-teaching at St. Ignatius' in town, teaching Latin through Irish, and history. Working on the maxim that a proper parson is a parson preaching I decided to attend Divine Service at St. Nicholas' on a Sunday morning. I was not able to do this as soon as I would have liked, because my wretched car broke down. But at last a Sunday arrived when the sun was shining and the clutch was working, and off I set. I arrived in town, parked the delicate machine, and then discovered I'd got the time wrong. Fortu nately I had got it wrong the right way, that is, I was half an hour early instead of half an hour late. But at last people started to arrive. I was interested to note the number of young families, always a sign of life. Most of the congregation seemed to know one another, and there was a very pleasant air of anticipation. The Rev. Forrest entered the church, greeting people as he walked up the nave. I noticed another clericallooking gentleman and asked the person next to me who he was. I felt rather foolish when I was informed that it was the Bishop of T u a m . " A h yes, of course", I muttered under my breath, "these glasses need cleaning". The Service began on time, and moved, along smoothly but not hurriedly. T h e prayers and Lessons were spoken by the Rector with dignity, but without the portentiousness that usually accompanies the dignified. I was im pressed with the evident sincerity with which the words of the Prayer Book were spoken, and I was also struck with how very similar the ritual of the Prayer Book is to the Liturgy of the Mass. W e sang quite a few hymns.

and though the singing was rather h u s h e d , everyone did seem to join in. One of the hymns we sang that morning was a setting of one of the poems of George Herbert, the 17th century Rector of Bemerton in Wiltshire, and one of the finest English poets: 'Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing, My God and King'. It turned out that the reason the Bishop of T u a m was present was that there was to be a baptism that morning. So we were all invited to leave our places and gather round the old baptismal font at the west end of the church. W h e n everyone was still the Rite was begun. A n d the congregation were asked by the Rector to repeat certain phrases with him. It was pleasing to see how naturally he took the child from her parents, and after the actual baptism carried the beautiful little baby, who had been given the name 'Victoria', over to some small children who had been standing at the front and watching everything with wide eyes, and asked them, quite unaffectedly, to "welcome little Victoria into our church". A n d just as naturally they did so.

I was brought up to think myself Irish without question.
" I was brought up to think myself Irish w i t h o u t q u e s t i o n or qualification, but the new nationalism prefers to describe me and the like of me as Anglo-Irish". This was written by Stephen G w y n n in the 1920's, but the same point was made to me by the Rev. Forrest. And it is a good way of making my return to the story with which this article began. The whole subject of national and cultural identity is i n the reconstruction works at the moment. One can only hope that what emerges when the job is done is a broader and more generous idea of what it means to be Irish. But while the work is progressing--and every one of us is making a contribution, whether we are aware of it or not--we have to recognise the existence of what the Forum Report described as "the two Traditions". Leslie Forrest is an articulate and thoughtful representative of one of those Traditions. As a protestant Irishman w h o is also a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, the opinions he has on many of the questions concern ing the future direction this country will take must, above all, be understood as the opinions of a fellow I r i s h m a n , and not "Anglo-Irishman". (Continued on page 15)

Rev. Leslie Forrest, Rector of St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway. Simms, who came down to our house quite often. And the older I got the more I began taking part in some of their conversations. I was very i m p r e s s e d -- a n d still am--with what I heard of missionary work in the poorer regions of the world. Eventually I decided that there were already quite a number of engineers in the world, but not so many priests. I thought that if I had any sort of contribution to make I could make it best as a priest". that one priest has over all responsibility for a number of churches in a particular area. T h e part of Donegal covered by the new Rector is an exceptionally beautiful section of Ireland. It is not far from Glenveagh, which became the third of Ireland's National Parks on July 16th. Near Lough G a r t a n , about seven miles north-west of Letterkenny, in 521 was born the great missionary St. Columcille. A n d it was at Kilmacrennan he was brought up under the care of an old priest. Thus a very important strand of Celtic Christianity had its birthplace in what became the Rev. Forrest's parish. Leslie and Avril Forrest lived eight years in this part of Donegal, and during those years two more children were born, Nicola and Gillian. It was at the very end of 1980 that the R e v . Forrest, his wife, Avril, and their three small girls were transferred to Galway, and the Rev. Forrest became not only

Photo by Brenda Fitzsimons

So after completing his Moderators hip in Hebrew and Oriental Languages at Trinity College, he There were already went on to the School of Theology and was a n u m b e r of Engin ordained in 1970. It was eers, not enough while he was at Trinity priests. that he met his future wife, Avril, who was reading Irish. T h e y W h y , I asked, had he were married after she decided to enter the completed her degree, Church? D i d he feel a and while he completed 'call' to become a priest? his theological studies, " N o t originally, no, I'm she taught at a girls' School in sure. I had thought of Secondary becoming an engineer. Dublin.

d u r i n g the summer months when there is usually an influx of tourists. It's a busy life for both the Rector and his wife. In addition to his duties as Rector, he is also a Representative to the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, and a member of the Church Board of Education. H e meets regularly with his Vestry of 16 parishioners to d i s c u s s p a r o c h i a l business and anything else c o n c e r n i n g the running and upkeep of the Church. Just recently, of course, the erection of the old Eyre Square railings along the perimeter of the Church grounds must have been an important item on the agenda. T h e cost of looking after and caring for such a building as St. Nicholas' is heavy, and it involves fund raising appeals, of couse, but the Rector was especially concerned that all credit be given to Galway Corporation for their continued assistance. N o