‘Sitting in Bunbeg church, I thought it'd be lovely to be here on Christmas morning’

By Rebecca Crockett

THE parishes of Carrickfin, Bunbeg and Dungloe have welcomed a new face at their Sunday service as Reverend Arthur Burns has been appointed as the new rector.

Ordained in 2012 by Bishop Ken Good, the Church of Ireland reverend most recently served in Glendermott Church in Derry.

Joined by his wife Norma, a lay reader in the church, Rev Burns told the Donegal News that it was a recent visit to one of the parishes which sparked the appointment.

He said: “I first took services in the three parishes at the end of April. The following Sunday, my wife was taking the service as a diocesan reader. Sitting in Bunbeg church and looking towards the communion table, I thought ‘it’d be lovely to be here on Christmas morning.’ So that was the start of it.”

Rev Burns will now oversee the Churches at Carrickfin St Andrew, Templecrone St Crone and Gweedore St Patrick.

Leading his first official service as rector back on October 13, Rev Burns said he’s been filled with excitement ever since; “After my first Sunday there in charge, I just couldn’t wait for the next Sunday to arrive.”

You could say that the reverend has had an unorthodox journey to the pulpit.

After leaving school he worked as a sewing machine engineer until joining the Royal Air Force in 1971 at age 20.

Five years later he returned home and later became a psychiatric nurse: “I have a life experience, maybe that some people wouldn’t have. Being a psychiatric nurse, you come across everything, so you have to be able to deal sometimes with a lot of different things.

“However, from 1989, I felt God speaking to me.”

Despite having such rich life experience Rev Burns said on his new appointment that it was the first time he’d visited West Donegal: “Up until Easter, I’d never been down in West Donegal, down in the Gaeltacht area.

“But it is absolutely beautiful. To be honest with you, if we had the weather in Spain, you would never leave!

“I’m really excited about being there, they’re lovely people, and it’s a lovely place to be. Even the other weekend with Storm Ashly, it was still lovely to be there.”

The reverend is taking over from Dean Liz Fitzgerald, who became the first female dean in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe in 2023.

When asked whether he was nervous at all about taking on the new area, Rev Burns shared: “When I felt called to go there, I prayed continuously about it and I asked for God’s guidance. As I’ve said to people down there, I’m happy to move because I know that he is behind it.”

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