Dr Sam Mawhinney recalls his time in Fermoy

lots of good stories of meeting people. I suppose that’s what it was about, it was great.

“To be fair, the churches in those days were very much central to the community. The Catholic church, Anglican church and the Church of Ireland had been there for a long time and we just came in on top of that and were welcomed. We were always invited to all the school events and community events. We felt very welcomed and very much a part of the community”.

FERMOY – FOND

MEMORIES

Some 11 years in Fermoy passed before Dr Mawhinney was called to Adelaide Road in Dublin and while he had enjoyed his time in Fermoy, he said that ‘it was time for a change’.

Also being the only person that the church called upon at that time, made the call a hard one to turn down.

“It was an opportunity, it was a change, and it came at the right time. I was the only person they said that they wanted, so it was hard to say no. That’s why I moved in 2008, with a heavy heart. I will always think fondly of Fermoy. That was my first charge and my first church, it always holds a special place in your heart.

“I think the challenge for me was, it was very different. I went from that sort of parish mentality of Fermoy and the welcome there to a much more city-centre situation. The challenges of that and not being known and having an established church that already had its patterns, and obviously was much bigger,” he said.

Welcoming 160 to 180 people a day, Adelaide Road offered a very different experience from Fermoy.

CHURCH MODERATOR

Dr Mawhinney continued to be a minister right up to the point where he was elected as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church at the General Assembly in 2023. He had been nominated for the position earlier this year, however, as it was his first time being nominated, Dr Mawhinney said he had not expected to be elected.

“It was a surprise and that was a change. I’m taken out of the ministry in Adelaide Road now and I’m really, what I think is, a full-time representative of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. I visit different churches and attend different functions and represent the church at those things and at times, speak for the church as well,” he said.

For one year, Dr Mawhinney will therefore remain in the role, visiting different churches and events across Ireland on behalf of the Presbyterian church, and is set to undertake an overseas trip to Kenya, returning to the hospital he had once worked at and its neighbouring communities.

As Moderator, Dr Mawhinney says that relinquishing the role of minister and the routine and stability of preaching has been the biggest change for him, however, he is embracing his new role for the year.

“For us, it’s just one year so you make the most of it and you keep going. Then someone else takes on that role. There are pluses and negatives about it only being one year, but that is the way that it has always been and you just make the most of it,” Dr Mawhinney concluded.

Dr Sam Mahwinney (second from right) with Ireland’s main church leaders in Rome in October this year, where they addressed a seminar to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Pictured is Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland; Rt Rev Andrew Forster, President of the Irish Council of Churches; Most Rev John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland; Rt Rev Dr Sam Mawhinney, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Rev David Turtle, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland.

RIGHT: Dr Sam Mawhinney as a young minister at the pulpit in Cahir.