St. Nicholas Clergy

Provost Lynda Peilow has been the rector of the Galway Group of Parishes, which includes St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway and Kilcummin Church, Oughterard, since 2018. Provost Lynda is the Provost of Tuam, Precentor of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, and Canon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Killala. She is also a chaplain to Galway’s four hospitals and serves as the Church of Ireland Chaplain in the University of Galway, and Atlantic Technological University.

In 1994, she entered the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and Trinity College, Dublin to study theology. She was ordained deacon in St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock, where she served as curate-assistant, and in 1998 was ordained priest at a service in Christ Church Cathedral, becoming the Church of Ireland’s youngest priest at that time. She served as curate-assistant in the west Dublin parish of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla. While there, she had many roles and served as assistant chaplain in Blanchardstown Hospital and Cappagh Orthaopeadic Hospital. In 2000 she began a second curacy in Saint Anne’s Dawson Street, Dublin, when she was also appointed chaplain to The Rotunda and Holles Street Hospitals. In 2001, Provost Lynda was appointed rector of Edenderry Union, in the Diocese of Meath & Kildare, where she served for 17 years before coming to Galway.

The Provost serves on many Diocesan committees and is Rural Dean of Tuam. She is a member of General Synod and several central church committees, including the Commission on Ministry, The Church of Ireland Priorities Committee, Standing Committee, and the Liturgical Advisory Council. She was also the Church of Ireland Central Director of Ordinands from 2021 to 2025.

Provost Lynda has become well known in her roles and civic responsibilities in the City of Galway, and her appointment in Galway made history as she was the first female rector in St. Nicholas’ 700-year history. She continues to lead the many teams in St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church and is especially proud of the church’s Athnuachan (revival and renewal) project. Her vision is to restore and protect St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church as a heritage site, a place of worship, and a centre of excellence for choral music and the arts for the next 700 years.