Pew Sheet – 12th July 2026

The Rector writes ‘ Tonight at 7pm in St John’s Church, we will have a lovely Choral Evensong Service. As this is my last Choral Evensong before retirement I would like to thank Roger Ellis and the Monkstown Chamber Choir for almost 15 years of wonderful choral music. Before the Pandemic we had these services on a monthly basis, along with the poignant Remembrance Evensong and of course at Advent,  the brilliant Nine Lessons & Carols I do remember shortly after I came to Cork, getting the St Canice’s Cathedral choir from my old parish in Kilkenny  to come sing Evensong along with the Monkstown Choir and the Cork gang held their own on the night!  It was wonderful music and great fun.  I have included a photo from that night in the summer of 2012.  Haven’t we all aged! Anyway, I would love if many of you could join the Monkstown Chamber Choir tonight at 7pm to hear just how lovely the Choral Evensong is.  The Choral Evensong tradition will, of course, continue in our parish long after I’m gone’

 July

Monday 13th    Men’s Coffee Morning 10am

                          Carrigaline Court Hotel  

August    

Sunday 30^th    United Service 11am  in St Mary’s Church,  followed by Parish BBQ.

All welcome! 150th Anniversary MU Outing to Fota House/  Gardens on Wednesday 15th July. Lunch at 12 midday at the House cafe and a tour of the house at 2.00 pm. Gardens are open to all.   Price is €11.00 for over 65s and €13.00 for younger folk not including lunch.   Please bring the right amount in an envelope if possible.  Booking necessary – contact Deirdre 0862613442. 

Random Notes DXXXVI

More tall (but supposedly true) tales from Ireland’s past.

The Honourable Highwayman.

The most polite robbery on record in Ireland took place in the Phoenix Park in August 1776.  A lady and her servant were out riding in the Park when they were stopped by a man on foot. He was extremely well dressed in a white suit and gold-laced hat. He demanded she hand him her money.  She had 26 guineas which she gave him without hesitation.  After pocketing the cash, he reached into another pocket and pulled out a small diamond ring which he handed to her, asking that she wear it to remember him by, as he made it a point of honour never to rob a beautiful woman without giving back something of equal value. He then politely bowed, vaulted over a wall and disappeared. His chivalry was equalled by an English Highwayman who ordered his victim, “Hands up!” and then demanded to know why he only held one hand up. When his victim replied that he only had one arm, the would be thief apologised, gave him back his valuables, and rode off.

The Sargeant and the Saleswoman.

While shopping in a Dublin stationers in 1870, Sargeant William Popple seized a saleswoman’s cufflink and fled with it. He then spent the next five years serving in India. He obviously never forgot the woman in question, as when he came home to Dublin, he visited every stationary shop in the city in the hope of finding her. Eventually he located the cufflinks owner and promptly proposed to her. This Prince Charming-style search eventually paid off. After a more conventional courtship, his Dublin based Cinderella accepted and married him.

MMPC