On Sunday September 5th, two people from the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Church of Ireland were ordained deacon by Bishop Paul Colton: Carole Pound in Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen, and Richard Dring in St Mary the Virgin Church, Carrigaline.
On both occasions there were strict limits on attendance in line with current regulations. Nonetheless, the congregations were representative of the family and friends of the candidates and of the parishes in which they were being ordained into local ministry. In the Church of Ireland, Ordained Local Ministry is about valuing the locality and empowering the local congregation.
Richard is married to Hilary and they have two adult children, Simon and Christina. They live in Currabinny, in the parish of St Mary, Carrigaline. Richard has lived in Carrigaline Union for most of his life having grown up in Ballygarvan, in Kilanully parish. He has always sensed a calling from the wider Church, having been very involved in the Church of Ireland Youth Council, both locally and nationally, and served for two years as All-Ireland chair in the early 1980s.
During this time he was always involved in Carrigaline Union, in both the worship and the organisation of the parish. He was encouraged by the Rev Arthur Houston to study and undertake the role of Diocesan Lay Reader. He was licensed as a Reader in January 2001 by Bishop Paul in Carrigaline. Richard has a primary degree in biochemistry from Trinity College, Dublin and a Masters in Food Chemistry from University College, Cork. His working career has been in Carrigaline, currently for the Kerry group, where he has a global role as a senior process science manager. This is a technical role supporting sites in Europe, Canada and the United States of America.
