‘I remember just saying to God, ‘What's the score?'

Revd Ian Cruickshank, the Scottish clergyman that Carrickmacross adopted as one of their own, retires on Friday, May 1, after three years shepherding the flocks of the Carrickmacross Group of Churches (Church Of Ireland).

He will be missed. Locals who know and love him can rest assured, the feeling’s mutual. Ian and his rescue cat ‘Tyson’, whom he nursed back to health after being run over, are headed north to Lurgan to spend more time with family.

This reporter first met Revd Cruickshank, at the Carrickmacross St Patrick’s Day Parade 2023, when he was handing out packets of shortbread, a little reminder of his Bonnie Scotland. Shortbread has become synonymous with Revd Ian who is worried that the community are going to have withdrawal symptoms when their supply of shortbread is suddenly cut off.

You could be forgiven for thinking he had a sponsorship, but it was all out of his own pocket: “To show love, it must have these two elements: it must cost you, and must benefit the person.”

Revd Ian is rarely spotted without a pair of Converse runner boots – he has a whole collection, including tartan. A gold and silver pair with personalised Revd Ian embroidered are his choice for today.

“If you want to know what season it is, look at my feet,” he said, referring to his range of Liturgical Converse.

He is also a biker and officiated the ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’ Memorial Mass last year in Clones.

“I have never experienced a oneness like I have at that service,” he reflected. To his mind, Clones is the natural place to locate the National Bikers’ Memorial and Garden when it finds a home in the Monaghan town.

Readers who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Revd Ian may have guessed his ministry is rooted in personality, humour and accessibility. He is authentic and relatable.

When he first moved to the rectory in Carrickmacross, the sign outside St Finbarr’s COI had to be replaced. When he was asked for the letters after his name, so they could be listed, he had a better idea. He wanted the sign to say ‘Revd Ian Cruickshank… Good looking, intelligent and humble,’ and he got his wish. This touch of humour came from a kind place- he wanted to send a message to students finishing school and facing exams that academic achievement does not define a person.

Revd Ian is very hands on in his role and even helps a local farmer to milk cows in the morning. He has a Green Cert in agriculture, which he undertook to get a feel for his rural parishioners and community.

Ian Cruickshank from Aberdeen had a couple of careers before he settled on being a man of the cloth. He worked on oil rigs and in psychiatric nursing for a time.

He was 19 when he found God. His family encouraged him to attend church with them, but he thought it would be boring. However, something changed that morning.

“That weekend I made a commitment and came to faith. That was the start of my journey.”

Revd Ian’s wife Donna is from the North; she missed home so she persuaded the Scotsman to leave Scotland in 1989.

“She was missing her mum, potato crisps and soda bread - and I quite liked two out of the three,” he jokes, before quickly correcting himself with a wide smile. “I liked all three!”

When he moved to Northern Ireland, Revd Cruickshank was working in residential care for adults with learning difficulties, doing split shifts. Somebody told him there was a nine to five job going in a day centre.

Calling

“They said, with your background, psychiatric nursing, the interview will be a formality… I didn't get the job!”

He was at a loss.

“I remember walking up the stairs of the house and just saying to God, ‘What's the score? I mean, here's the ideal job for me and it means I'll be able to get to church with my family. What do you want me to do?’

“The answer I got, clear as a bell was, ‘I'm not going to compromise with you.’ It was kind of like a download, it was sharp. It was so strange because it's not me saying to myself, ‘What do I really want to do?’ It was distinct, ‘What do you really want to do?’ Clearly, without thinking, I went, ‘Bible College.’ I had never ever thought about Bible College.”

Revd Cruickshank didn’t always like attracting attention, he used to have a severe stammer. He also wasn’t that fond of education, but still spent six years studying theology after answering the call from upstairs.

Revd Cruickshank is not only loved by his congregation, but also by the community he is very active in. An innovator who brings infectious enthusiasm to everything he does, he also respects tradition but is firmly of the opinion it can be a living thing.

On Easter Saturday he introduced ‘Stuck-in Saturday’ where people are given space to acknowledge what they are struggling with, or haven’t had time to process, similar to the followers of Jesus left in Limbo on Easter Saturday after Jesus’ death the day before.

On Easter Sunday women from the church gathered at God’s Acre (COI graveyard) at sunrise, symbolic of the women who found the tomb empty that same morning.

Revd Cruickshank also introduced an interdenominational Pet Remembrance Service where people brought photos of their faithful companions and give thanks for their lives. For those who enjoy a short service, he introduced ‘Short Sunday’, where anyone who wore shorts or rolled up their trousers at Summer service were treated to an ice-cream in Keegan’s newsagents afterwards.

This meanwhile was the third and final year of the Ireland V Scotland Hurdles Challenge, another living tradition that came about at Carrickmacross St Patrick’s Day Parade where Revd Cruickshank jumped hurdles against Cllr Aidan Campbell, an amateur athlete who runs marathons all over the world.

To mark St Andrew’s Day in November, Revd Cruickshank abseiled down St Finbarr’s to raise funds for the clocktower, which now has working clock faces on all sides. But its plasterwork is still crumbling. That Sunday afternoon at the end of November 2025, hundreds undeterred by the cold gathered to watch the flying Scotsman descend from above in a kilt. The daredevil feat was all the more impressive when he revealed: “I hate heights!”

As plasterwork fell to earth before Revd Cruikshank reached the ground, his son gave little reassurance to his mother: “There was little bits of masonry and tile coming down and with the height it made quite a loud noise. My wife Donna was standing there, horrified and so my son reassured her: ‘There's going to be some thud when Dad hits the ground’.”

Revd Cruickshank also did the Carrick Emmets Christmas Day Swim with a Nessie (Lough Ness Monster) hat on, which he later gave to a child, who took a liking to it. The clocktower was one of the beneficiaries of the annual charity Christmas swim.

Revd Cruickshank will miss the congregations of St. Finbarr’s in Carrickmacross, St Molua’s, Magheracloone and St Patrick's in Ardragh, who make up Carrickmacross Group of Churches.

But he’s not hanging up his vestments entirely. The beauty of retirement, he reflects, is that he can come back and visit any time.

Revd Cruickshank retains a deep emotional connection with the community of Carrickmacross.

He is retiring for health reasons and to be closer to his family, wife Donna, sons Matthew and Paul, and daughters Hannah and Rebecca.

The Cruickshanks’ offspring have all grown up and flown the nest, to build their own nests, living within a six-mile radius of Lurgan.

For his humanity and humour, his creativity and compassion and his steadfast belief that tradition and innovation can thrive side by side Revd Cruickshank will long be remembered in Carrickmacross.