The Recent Dictionaries of Biography
With few exceptions, the great and good in the Church of Ireland’s long history – whether clergy or laity, bishops or theologians, saints or scholars - have not been taken up individually in biography. And of the few “Lives” that have been published, fewer have a woman as subject, the hymn-writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, being a rare exception. That biographical famine is, however, relieved in part by the advent of biographical dictionaries, of which three have been published since 1995. Though confined to library shelves as works of reference, recourse to them opens a wealth of material on the Church’s rich heritage. The purpose of this survey is to open these three dictionaries to view, with their invaluable content of recent scholarly research and reflection. All three include many, though not enough, Irish churchmen – and some, though still too few, churchwomen - through many centuries.
* Full article available in printed copies.
Alan Acheson
Noted Church of Ireland historian and leading member of the General Synod, was headmaster of Portora Royal School and the King’s School in Sydney.