Service of Remembrance on RTE 1 - 15/11/20
President, Clergy and Transplant Community unite for televised event honouring organ donors on RTE 1 on Sunday, 15th November at 11am
People from all walks of life and beliefs, united in their wish to honour organ donors, are encouraged to come together for the Irish Kidney Association's 35th Annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving which will be broadcast on RTÉ on Sunday, 15th November 2020 at 11am.
This very special and poignant inter-church Service was pre-recorded at Newman University Church, Dublin last month with celebrant Revd. Gary Chamberland, and includes readings and messages from the President Michael D. Higgins, Most Revd Dr. Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough and Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin.
Eleanor Shanley & John Feeley at the Circle of Life Garden
The Service will commence with a special segment from the Circle of Life National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden in Salthill, with Eleanor Shanley singing accompanied by classical guitarist John Feeley. They are watched on by some grateful transplant recipients from the Galway area and by the Garden’s creators, Denis and Martina Goggin, the parents of Éamonn whose organs were donated following a road crash in 2006.
Denis & Martina Goggin with Angeline Cooke and Bernadette Glynn, both kidney recipients.
Anne Keaney (centre) with her daughter Lauren and grandson Bernard Óg, a kidney recipient. Anne is holding a photograph of her son Thomas who died tragically in Australia in 2013 and who became an organ donor.
During the Service, members of deceased organ donor families, and grateful transplant recipients including heart, lung, liver and kidney, carry out various symbolic roles, such as readings, displaying the Book of Remembrance, and the very moving “Service of Light Ceremony”. Members of the medical and surgical profession and Transplant Team Ireland also participate, with music directed by Steven Warner, Associate Director, Newman University Church, including the widely revered cantor, Dr. Sharon Lyons and the Vocare Ensemble.
For many donor families this unique annual Service has become an anniversary to remember their loved ones, and for transplant recipients the opportunity to honour and give thanks for the wonderful ‘gift of life’ they have received.
The public is being asked to actively participate in this year’s virtual Service, by lighting a candle in their home in memory of deceased donors who gave the wonderful gift of life to others.
This will be the first time for the inter-denominational Service to go virtual, transitioning from a previously large in-church congregation of 2000+ to a broadcast production by Kairos Communications which will feature on RTÉ One and RTÉ Radio One Extra (LW252). It can also be viewed on RTÉ Player www.rte.ie/player and the Irish Kidney Association’s website www.ika.ie
