Vicar, Reverend Irene Cowell 

 Irene has spent almost all of her life in Liverpool. She began her working career as a nurse at Alder Hey Children's Hospital before going on to work for 12 years at Broadgreen Hospital. It was in her early teens that she first sensed that God was calling her to serve Him, little did she know that it would eventually lead to ordination.  Irene trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge and was ordained at Liverpool Cathedral in 1994 and has served in the Diocese of Liverpool for the last 23 years, most recently as Priest in Charge of Emmanuel Church, Southport.

In addition to parochial ministry Irene has held posts as Diocesan Director for Continuing Ministerial Education, Diocesan Co-ordinator for Leadership and Management Training and she has experience in ministerial development, both lay and ordained. Irene has also chaired a number of diocesan committees including Culture, Heritage, Arts and Tourism (CHAT).

Tom and Irene met and married in 1981, they have no children, but they do have a large black Labrador called Jackson. They are no strangers to the Isle of Man, Tom was born here and Irene has so far traced his Manx roots back to 1690. 

 Irene is a keen photographer, and enjoys travelling to Italy and the USA especially to Mississippi where she has made many friends. Irene also has an interest in Canon Law. 

She is looking forward to her ministry here in Arbory and Castletown and serving the local community and making Christ known. Please feel free to contact her if you want to know more about our churches, or if you feel she may be able to help you in any way. You can contact Irene at reviccowell@parishofarboryandcastletown.org 

    Reverend Colin Barry 

Colin has been a builder, a Police officer, and a civil servant and has a lot of life experience. It was following an incident as a Police officer that Colin was led to ministry.  Colin subsequently enrolled in the Diocesan training Institute in 1985 and was licenced as a Reader in March 1990.  But the Lord wasn't finished with Colin and he was led to selection for ordination, and after further training, was ordained Deacon in 1996 and Priest in 1997. He served as a 
Non-Stipendiary Minister until his retirement in 2015.  Colin remains active in his ministry and has the Bishop's permission to officiate.
Colin loves Arbory moving here with his family 45 years ago. He was amazed and surprised to find he had ancestors in the parish 250 years ago, one of whom was a churchwarden involved with the building of the present Arbory church, and another distant cousin was married to the first vicar of the new church.
Colin has three adult children with varying levels of learning disability.  This can be challenging, but also rewarding.  In his spare time he enjoys travelling and photography, and is particulaly interested in geology (he was awarded an Open University BSc degree in Earth Sciences in 1993).
He looks forward to continuing in his ministry serving the parish of Arbory and Castletown.