Cuthbert Irvine Peacocke
He saw service throughout the Second World War as an army padre. Having been Archdeacon of Down for seven years and Rector of Saint Mark’s, Dundela, Belfast, for 21 years, he was installed as Dean of the cathedral at a service on Wednesday 14th November 1956. The service was attended by 1000 people, among whom were robed members of Belfast Corporation led by the Lord Mayor, Alderman R J R Harcourt and the Lady Mayoress, Viscountess Brookeborough, representing the Prime Minister, Sir Kenneth Sinclair, DL, representing Lord Glentoran, Her Majesty’s Lieutenant for Belfast and Sir Richard and Lady Pim. The procession which preceded the service included about 130 clergy from Down, Connor and Dromore and the mixed choir of about 60. The institution was performed by the Bishop of Connor and the installation by the Archdeacon of Connor, the Venerable J R McDonald. The certificate of election as incumbent and the mandate of installation were read by the Registrar, the Reverend Chancellor R S Breene.The Apse and Ambulatory were consecrated on 17th April 1959 during his period as Dean.
In 1969 Dean Peacocke was elected Bishop of Derry & Raphoe [a position also held by his Father] and served there during five of the most difficult years of the troubles, until his retirement in 1975.
[B 1903- d1994]
The following obituary was carried in The Daily Telegraph.
The Right Reverend Cuthbert Peacocke who has died aged 90, was Bishop of Derry and Raphoe from 1970 to 1975.The news of his appointment, at the age of 67, was greeted by an editorial in the Irish Times arguing that bishops should retire at 65. The Rev Ian Paisley, who was greatly annoyed that Peacocke had resigned from the Orange Order shortly before becoming a bishop, picketed ;the cathedral at the time of his enthronement, but the new prelate slipped in unrecognised, wearing an everyday suit.
Peacocke, however, had not intended this as a disguise. He was a most unostentatious man, and refused to wear the episcopal gaiters which were still de rigueur at that time.
Although he claimed to be no more than a "night watchman" in one of Ireland's most sensitive bishoprics, he greatly improved relations between Protestants and Roman Catholics. From the outset he established a warm relationship with his Roman Catholic counterpart, a much younger bishop, and they had an agreement that if asked to comment on the latest atrocity each would contact the other before making any statement.
These were the early days of "the Troubles", and Peacocke's long experience and generous disposition did much to calm nerves and I encourage patience in the Protestant community. Its older members remembered his greatly respected father, who had been bishop of the diocese from 1916 to 1945; his grandfather had been Archbishop of Dublin.
Cuthbert Irvine Peacocke was born on April 26 1903. He was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin, then at Trinity College, Dublin, where he read Modern History and Politics and secured the Divinity Testimonium in preparation for Holy Orders.
From 1926 to 1930 he was a a curate at Seapatrick and he spent the next three years as head of the Church of Ireland Mission in the east end of Belfast.
He was rector of Derriaghy in County Antrim from 1933 to 1935, when he was appointed rector of St Mark’s, Dundela - the largest parish in Belfast.
Here he remained for 21 years, a tenure interrupted only by service as a Chaplain to the Forces during the Second World War.
He returned to the parish once the war was over, taking on the additional responsibilities of Private Chaplain to the Bishop of Down and Dromore and in 1948 those of rural dean of Holywood.
In 1950 he also became archdeacon of Down and a canon of St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast. When the bishopric of Derry and Raphoe fell vacant in 1956 it seemed likely that he would be elected to his father's old see.
In the event it was thought best that he should remain in Belfast, where he became dean of St Anne's Cathedral. He occupied this post for the next 13 years. For much of this time his brother was Chief Constable - both men combining a firm devotion to the Crown and intense loyalty to their own Irish background and tradition. The dean was also appreciated for his unusual conciseness in the pulpit.
During his brief time as Bishop of Derry and Raphoe the escalating conflict in the divided community of Londonderry was inevitably his chief concern. But he was also conscious of his responsibility for the scattered congregations in the depopulated area of County Donegal and was an assiduous visitor and pastor - the embodiment of the ideals contained in his small book The Young Parson, published in 1936.
Throughout his life he was a keen sportsman, with a special interest in cricket and later in angling.
He married, in 1931, Helen Gaussen, they had a son and a daughter.
