Donald Arthur Richard Caird (11 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was an Irish

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

who held three senior posts in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

during the last third of the 20th century. He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and educated at Wesley College and Trinity College in his native city studying Mental and Moral Science (Philosophy) where he won a scholarship in 1948 and graduated in 1949. He was ordained in 1950. He began his career at St Mark's, Dundela,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He was

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

and an Assistant Master at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen until 1957. He was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at University College of St David's, Lampeter. He was Rector of Rathmichael Parish,

Shankill, Dublin Shankill () is an outlying suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the southeast of County Dublin, close to the border with County Wicklow. It is in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and had a population of 14, ...

and a

in the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known Text (literary theo ...

at the

Theological College,

. From 1969 to 1970 he was

Dean of Ossory The Dean of Ossory or Dean of Kilkenny is based at St Canice's Cathedral, The Cathedral Church of St Canice, Kilkenny in the united Diocese of Cashel and Ossory within the Church of Ireland. The current Dean is the Very Reverend Stephen Farrell, ...

when he was ordained to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

as the last

Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe The Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe was the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, which was in the Ecclesiastical province, Province of Archbishop of Cashel, Cashel until 1833, the ...

, a post he held until 1976. He was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the

Diocese of Meath and Kildare The United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare is a diocese in the Church of Ireland located in Ireland. The diocese is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Alone of English and Irish bishops who are not also archbishops, the Bishop of Meath an ...

and he served there until 1985 when he was elected

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

and

Primate of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest Order of precedence, precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that t ...

. He retired in 1996. Donald Caird took a keen interest in the Irish language from an early age. He encountered members of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise (the Irish Guild of the Church) at an Irish language service in Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral in the early 1940s, which made a deep impression on him. Around this time, he was sent to the Gaeltacht in West Kerry by his father to improve his Irish, staying in the Dún Chaoin area and was fascinated to encounter members of his church community worshipping in Irish at a small church at Kilmalkeader (Cill Mhaolcheadair) on the Dingle peninsula, overlooking the Atlantic. He was appointed to Bord na Gaeilge, the state body for the promotion of the language, in 1975 while Bishop of Limerick, by Tom O'Donnell TD, Minister for the Gaeltacht. He died on 1 June 2017 at the age of 91.The Most Revd Dr Donald Arthur Richard Caird
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caird, Donald Arthur Richard 1925 births 2017 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) People educated at Wesley College, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Deans of Ossory Bishops of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe Bishops of Meath and Kildare Anglican archbishops of Dublin Academics of the University of Wales, Lampeter Deans of Kilkenny 20th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland 20th-century Anglican archbishops Diocese of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe Scholars of Trinity College Dublin