Rev Mervyn Peoples has been appointed a Canon of St Eunan’s Cathedral in Raphoe. The appointment, which was announced publicly on Friday 8th December 2023, was made by Bishop Andrew and fills the vacancy in the Cathedral Chapter following the retirement of Rev Canon Judi McGaffin.
Canon Peoples, who has served in more than a dozen parishes in our dioceses, says he was taken by surprise by the news but regards it as a great honour. “It is a real surprise – and a real blessing – to have been appointed a Canon of St Eunan’s Cathedral,” he said. “Ironically, the news arrived during the first week of Advent but I can honestly say I didn’t see it coming. It is a role I have never sought but which I am delighted to fulfil, and I am enormously grateful to Bishop Andrew for bestowing this great honour upon me.
“I have tremendous affection for parishioners throughout the Diocese of Raphoe, many of whom I have had the privilege of serving during vacancies and at other times. I am mindful of the significance of St Eunan’s Cathedral in their lives and worship, and I pray I can be a blessing to them as much as they have blessed me.
“I am enormously grateful to my wife and family for their unstinting support throughout my ministry. And I pray, too, that God will guide me in this new, exciting and unexpected phase in my ministry.”
Canon Peoples – who has served God’s people in All Saints’ Clooney, Templemore (St Columb’s Cathedral), Conwal, Dunfanaghy, Moville, Inver and Stranorlar, to mention just a few of his parishes – reserves his final words of gratitude for the One who called him. “I just serve where there’s a need,” he said, “and wherever I’m asked to go. It would be impossible to do it without God’s support and guidance.”
