IN
LOVING MEMORY
OF
VIVIAN WILLIAM DARLING
ARCHDEACON OF CLOYNE
WHO COMPLETED 51 YEARS
OF A FAITHFUL MINISTRY WHILE
RECTOR OF THIS PARISH.
DIED 31ST JANUARY 1965
IN HIS 79TH YEAR.
HIS WIFE HONOR FRANCES GARDE DARLING
DIED 31ST MARCH 1984 IN HER 79TH YEAR.
The cross faces west as opposed to east.
Archdeacon Vivian William Darling was one of the last resident Rectors of Magourney Union, but less well known is that during WW1 he was Chaplain to the Forces with the nominal rank of Captain. From 1914 to 1919 he served in France and Belgium, and we can hardly imagine the horrors he must have seen. After the war he became curate at St. Lukes in Cork, where the Rector was Rev. Flewett (later Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross). Darling married Flewett’s daughter, Honor Frances Garde, and among their children was Right Rev. Richard Darling, Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe. Unlike most officers, he Darling does not seem to have accepted his WW1 Campaign Medals. (Source: ACR Heritage).