21.05.2026
Overlooked No Longer – New Book Shines Light on Forgotten Dean
A former, almost forgotten dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, “is overlooked no longer” thanks to the publication of a new book almost 400 years after his tenure ended. Launching the book on Benjamin Culme, the current dean of St Patrick’s the Very Revd Dr William Morton, said that the patient scholarship and careful research of the author had brought Culme back into the light.
‘Benjamin Culme, DD, Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin 1625–1657: An Overlooked Dean’ by the Revd Robert Kingston was launched in the Deanery of St Patrick’s on Tuesday evening (May 19). The book, which appears to be the first to be written about Dean Culme who served as Dean for 32 years in the turbulent time leading up to the Cromwellian take over, is published by Hinds and is available on their website www.hinds.ie.
Standing in the dining room of the Deanery, Dean Morton observed that if Dean Culme didn’t live in the exact building, he lived on the same site and it was fitting to gather there for the launch. He said history was alive and well and told the packed room that only that morning the cathedral had received a letter addressed to another former dean, Dean Jonathan Swift.
“A good book informs us, challenges us, inspires fresh interest, stimulates further scholarship, corrects misconceptions and helps us understand why history and the lives of the individuals within it took the course they did,” he stated. “Ably researched and written, this book is a delight. Robert is known and admired and over many years of faithful ministry has combined pastoral wisdom with the instincts of a meticulous historian. During his time in Virginia, Co Cavan, where Benjamin Culme was said to have served, Robert began to research the life of a churchman who had all but disappeared from memory.”
Dean Morton said that Culme was not a household name and left behind no satirical legacy, as Jonathan Swift did – still receiving mail – nor did he achieve lasting fame. But he guided the cathedral through years of extraordinary upheaval and his memorial described him as ‘patient in adversity’. He suggested that the book was a significant contribution to the history of St Patrick’s Cathedral and a moving tribute to the enduring power of steady and faithful service, showing that no life devoted to faithful service is ever lost.
The Revd Robert Kingston, who is currently Chaplain of The Mageough in Dublin, said that the book was the culmination of a lot of research. He urged readers not to think of it as serious scholarship. “I regard it as being an account of a fascinating treasure hunt all of which began with Jim Hartin who taught history in the [Divinity] Hostel,” he explained.
In 1985 Robert served in Virginia. As the registrar of Kilmore Diocese he had all the subscription lists none of which mentioned Benjamin Culme. However, George Hill historian of the Plantation time in the early 1700s had Culme down as the first Rector of Virginia.
“That led me on to doing a parish history which sat until retirement. Then it occurred to me that all through my life I had been crossing Culme’s path, or he’d been crossing mine. I was in Mallow – he found his wife in the Mallow area. In the other parishes there was always some hint of connection with him,” he commented.
The author thanked Ross Hinds for taking a chance on his book and his wife for encouraging him to seek publication, Dean Morton, St Patrick’s historian Albert Fenton and the Friends of St Patrick’s for their support along with the book’s designer and all who supported the launch.
“When I started to look at this about 12 years ago, I went to Ray Refausse in the [RCB] Library and asked him for information on Culme. He came back to me and said there was nothing about Culme. I said great, that’s the sort of history I like to write about – nobody to contradict me if I am wrong. I’m hoping that within another year or two there will be books on Culme profoundly disagreeing with every word I’ve written. I feel that I will have made it if that happens – history is not something fixed it is something that develops in our understanding. The important thing is to start where people were at and the situations they were in to see the decisions they had to make,” he concluded.
