Robert Samuel James Houston McKelvey, (3 September 1942 â 19 March 2026) was a priest in the Church of Ireland who served as the Dean of Belfast.
McKelvey was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (1954âÂÂ61), Queen's University Belfast, 1961-65 and Trinity College, Dublin and ordained in 1968.
He was Curate at Dunmurry until 1970, when he was appointed Rector of Kilmakee- a post he held for 12 years. He was Secretary of the General Synod Board of Education (Northern Ireland) from then until 2001 when he became Dean of Belfast, in which capacity he served at St Anne's Cathedral until 2011.
During his tenure as Dean of Belfast he was at times involved in controversy, notably in 2003 (relating to perceived lack of government support for St Anne's as a tourist attraction), and in 2010-11 (relating to the departure of the composer Philip Stopford, who had been the Director of Music). In connection with the latter matter, he faced demands that he resign..
McKelvey spent nearly three decades as chaplain to the Territorial Army and was awarded what was then the King's Volunteer Reserves Medal ie the QVRM.
He made important strategic links with St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast in Belfast during his tenure as Dean, an important ecumenical relationship in the post Good Friday Agreement era. He worked closely with his Catholic counterpart Monsignor Tom Toner, a relationship remembered at the latter's funeral . It was often speculated that he was disappointed not to have been made a bishop in the Church of Ireland.
An author, he was married to Roberta; he had a son and two grandsons..
McKelvey served as editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette from 1975 to 1982.
McKelvey died in Coleraine on 19 March 2026, at the age of 83.