Victor Griffin

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This article is about the Irish Anglican priest. For the Quapaw leader, see Victor Griffin (Quapaw).

The Very Reverend Victor Gilbert Benjamin Griffin (Dean Griffin)[1] (24 May 1924 – 11 January 2017) was a noted Church of Ireland (Anglican) priest, theologian and author and a strongly liberal voice in Irish public life.[2]

Born in Carnew, County Wicklow, Griffin was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin, where he was elected a scholar and awarded the Luce, Bernard, Wray and Macren prizes for philosophy and metaphysical studies. He had a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Trinity in his years in ministry in Dublin.[3]

He was married to Daphne who died from MS on 16 January 1998. They had twin sons Timothy ( died d 5 June 2012) and Kevin, both married and Griffin has five grandchildren.

Church career[]

He was ordained in 1948.[4] He held curacies at St Augustine's in Derry then at Christ Church, in the same city. He became Rector of Christ Church in 1957, serving until 1969.[citation needed]

He was first Prebendary of Howth in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin (1962-1968) then Dean from 1969 until 1991 [5] and when he completed his term he was regarded by some commentators as "the great Dean of the twentieth century."[6]

Griffin's ministry in Dublin was characterised by an openness and inclusivity, a building of bridges to other traditions and he was among the first public figures to recognise the wider changes in Irish public life. Among the causes he adopted were: strong support for the Irish anti-apartheid campaign; his endorsement of, and canvassing for both Mary Robinson and David Norris (politician); trenchant opposition to the campaign for the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland; Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1986; and the campaign to preserve Liberties of Dublin and renovate the inner city.[7]

Author[]

He was the author of several books including:

  • Anglican and Irish: What We Believe (1976)
  • Mark of Protest (1993)
  • Enough Religion to Make Us Hate (2002)
  • A short catechism of basic Church teaching (2007)[8]

Personal life[]

He lived in retirement in Limavady, Northern Ireland until his death in 2017.

References[]

  1. ^ Interview in 2004
  2. ^ 'GRIFFIN, Very Rev. Victor Gilbert Benjamin', Who's Who 2015, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, Oct 2014 accessed 19 Jan 2015
  3. ^ https://www.tcd.ie/Philosophy/assets/pdfs/VictorGriffin.pdf[bare URL]
  4. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975-76 London: Oxford University Press, 1976 ISBN 0-19-200008-X
  5. ^ Cathedral web-site
  6. ^ "Obituary: Dean Victor Griffin".
  7. ^ "Victor Griffin".
  8. ^ British Library website accessed 09:03 GMT 19 January 2015

External links[]

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