Overview
Robert William Maurice (Billy) Wynne (1919–2000) was a Church of Ireland minister and the founder of the Samaritans organisation in the Republic of Ireland.
Education and career
Wynne was educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and Kingstown Grammar School. He left school at the age of 15 to work as an apprentice in Drummond's Seed Shop on Dawson Street in Dublin. He began studying for the ministry four years later. Wynne graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1944 and, following his ordination as deacon, was appointed curate of Clontarf. He then served as curate at Holy Trinity Church, Rathmines before becoming Rector of Delgany in Co. Wicklow in 1952. He became Rector of Monkstown, Co. Dublin in 1958. His final ministry was as Rector of St. Ann's in the centre of Dublin from 1979 until 1987. Wynne's path to founding a branch of the Samaritans in Dublin began in 1959 when a letter he had written to a fellow clergyman in need of help was seen by Chad Varah, the founder of the Samaritans in England.
Varah wrote to Wynne to ask if he would be willing to establish a similar type of service in Ireland. Varah found a willing ally in Wynne. Interviewed in 1983, Wynne explained that ‘I had always thought that Christianity was about compassion, love and caring and having met so many depressed and suicidal persons during my early church days, I often wondered what I could do to help in a practical way’. Nonetheless, by the time the Dublin branch opened in 1970, two prominent Roman Catholics – the Rev. John F. Brennan SJ and Vincent Grogan SC – were closely involved. Wynne, however, saw himself as an 'old conservative' although one who was not afraid of change and of 'breaking old moulds'. He also helped the Missions to Seamen.
Family
Wynne was born on 12 April 1919 into a family with strong connections to the Church of Ireland. His father was the Rev. George Robert Llewellyn Wynne and his grandfather Archdeacon Robert Wynne. His mother, Alice Deane, was from a family of Barbadian sugar planters. Wynne married Cecil Florence Collins on 26 April 1949. They had three sons – John, Peter and Stephen. Wynne died on 17 January 2000. His funeral took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin on 20 January. During his funeral address, Canon Cecil Hyland, Rector of Howth, said that the hallmark of Wynne's ministry was compassion – 'because he was "a man who struggled within himself", he was able to help others in their struggles'.