The Revd Dr Robert Brian MacCarthy is a clergyman in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

. He was Dean of

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral ( ir, Ard-Eaglais Naomh Pádraig) in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral, is currently the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cat ...

from 1999 until his retirement in January 2012.

Education and career

Born in 1940, MacCarthy was educated at St. Columba's College in

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Counc ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. He continued his studies in

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

and

Cuddesdon Theological College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay mi ...

. He received a Ph.D. in 19th century Irish history from Trinity College in 1983. Prior to his ordination in 1979, he spent twelve years in university administration at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and Trinity College Dublin, where he became Assistant Secretary. He became curate of Carlow in 1979, a post he held until 1981 when he was appointed Librarian of

Pusey House, Oxford Pusey House is an Anglican religious institution located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradition of the Church of England, and was founded ...

and Fellow of

St Cross College St Cross College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1965, St Cross is an all-graduate college with gothic and traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street. It ...

. In 1982 he was appointed Team Vicar in Bracknell New Town. From 1986 to 1988 he was Bishop's Vicar in

St Canice's Cathedral St Canice's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Cainneach, ), also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Di ...

, Kilkenny. He became Rector of

Castlecomer Castlecomer ( Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At th ...

, Co. Kilkenny in 1988. From 1995 to 1999 he was Rector of St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Galway and Provost of Tuam. He has been a member of the chapter since 1994, as the Prebendary of Monmohenock. He was elected Dean of St Patrick's in 1999. Robert MacCarthy retired from his position as Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral on 25 January 2012.

Publications and theology

His publications include ''The Estates of Trinity College Dublin'' (Dundalgan Press, 1992) and ''Ancient and Modern: A Short History of the Church of Ireland'' (Four Courts Press, 1995). More recently he has written a biography of John Henry Bernard (Linden Publishing, 2008). MacCarthy has become known for his controversial opinions and liberal theology. He has been a champion of ecumenical dialogue and during his time a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and a former

Moderator Moderator may refer to: Government *Moderator (town official), elected official who presides over the Town Meeting form of government Internet *Internet forum#Moderators, Internet forum moderator, a person given special authority to enforce the ...

of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

were elected to the cathedral's 24-person

Chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

. After expressing doubts concerning the validity of some New Testament verses in our modern world, questions were raised over Dr. MacCarthy's claimed orthodoxy. In October 2005 he gave a sermon which appeared in an abridged form in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' on 13 October 2005. It proved controversial, with one commentator in '' The Brandsma Review'' dubbing it ''The rubber-stamping of buggery''. MacCarthy criticised the then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste ...

for issuing a public invitation to a State reception for Cardinal

Desmond Connell Desmond Connell (24 March 1926 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was an Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Cardinal Connell was one of a number of senior clergy to have been heavily criticise ...

in 2001 in the joint names of the Taoiseach and his then partner. MacCarthy declined to attend and received over 300 letters of support, many from Roman Catholics. In April 2008 in a letter to ''

'' he referred to Muslims and Hindus as indoctrinating their children into "a cult". In St Patrick's he has been censured by both board and chapter. In 2011 he invited all seven presidential candidates to support his suggestion that St Patrick's should become a national ecumenical cathedral for all Christians in Ireland.

References

Citations

General sources

* * *

External links

St. Patrick's Cathedral Website - Clergy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maccarthy, Robert 1940 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford Living people Place of birth missing (living people)