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Church of Ireland

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious movements,
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   The Church of Ireland ( Irish: Eaglais na hÉireann) is an autonomous
   province of the Anglican Communion, operating seamlessly across the
   border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is the
   largest Protestant Church in the Republic of Ireland but is second in
   size to the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland.
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   When the Church of England broke with the Pope and communion with the
   Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Church in Ireland underwent
   reformation. The Church of Ireland, in its cathedrals and churches and
   property, retains much of the island's heritage of the medieval
   occupation. The Catholic Church was and is the church of the vast
   majority of the populace; nevertheless, the Church of Ireland was
   imposed as the state church until 1869 when it was disestablished.

History

   The Church of Ireland traces its origins back to the missions of Saint
   Patrick.

   A monastically-centred institution, the early Celtic Church of Ireland
   had a unique calendar and usages, but was a full part of the wider
   Western Church, remaining in communion with Rome. In 1166, basing his
   action on the disputed Papal Bull Laudabiliter, which is claimed to
   have given him lordship over Ireland, the french-born Henry II of
   England came to Ireland and in 1171 made himself "Overlord" of Ireland.

   In 1536 Henry VIII had the Irish Parliament declare him head of the
   Irish Church. When the Church of England travelled in a more Protestant
   direction under Edward VI so too did the Church of Ireland. All but two
   of the Irish bishops accepted the Elizabethan Settlement and there is
   therefore continuity and Apostolic succession in the Church of Ireland,
   separate from that of the Church of England and the doubts raised by
   the consecration of Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury.

   The established church in Ireland underwent a period of more radical
   Calvinist doctrine than occurred in England. James Ussher (later
   Archbishop of Armagh) authored the Irish Articles, adopted in 1615. In
   1634 the Irish Convocation adopted the English Thirty-Nine Articles
   alongside the Irish Articles. After the Restoration of 1660, it seems
   that the Thirty-Nine Articles took precedence, and remain the official
   doctrine of the Church of Ireland even after disestablishment.

   The reformed Church of Ireland undertook the first publication of
   Scripture in Irish. The first Irish translation of the New Testament
   was begun by Nicholas Walsh, Bishop of Ossory, who worked on it until
   his untimely death in 1585. The work was continued by John Kearny, his
   assistant, and Dr. Nehemiah Donellan, Archbishop of Tuam, and it was
   finally completed by William O'Domhnuill (William Daniell, Archbishop
   of Tuam in succession to Donellan). Their work was printed in 1602. The
   work of translating the Old Testament was undertaken by William Bedel
   (1571-1642), Bishop of Kilmore, who completed his translation within
   the reign of Charles the First, however it was not published until
   1680, in a revised version by Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), Archbishop
   of Dublin. William Bedell had undertaken a translation of the Book of
   Common Prayer in 1606. An Irish translation of the revised prayer book
   of 1662 was effected by John Richardson (1664 - 1747) and published in
   1712.

   However, the delay in providing scripture and liturgy in the vernacular
   of the majority of the population, caused a rift between the
   English-speaking minority who mostly adhered to the reformed church or
   to presbyterianism and the Irish-speaking majority who remained
   faithful to the Latin liturgy of Catholicism which thus remained the
   majority denomination in Ireland.

   As before the Reformation, some clergymen of the Church of Ireland sat
   as Lords Spiritual in the Irish House of Lords; under the provisions of
   the Act of Union 1800, one archbishop and the three bishops chosen by
   rotation would be Lords Spiritual in the newly united United Kingdom
   House of Lords in Westminster, joining the two archbishops (Canterbury
   and York) and the twenty-four bishops from the Church of England.

   In 1833 the British Government proposed the Irish Church Measure to
   reduce the 22 archbishops and bishops who oversaw the Anglican minority
   in Ireland to a total of 12 by amalgamating sees and to use the
   revenues saved for the use of parishes. This sparked the Tractarian
   movement and wider repercussions in the Anglican communion.

   Though the religion of a minority of Irish people at the time, it
   remained the official, "established" religion of Ireland, until its
   disestablishment by an 1869 Act of Parliament, which came into effect
   in 1871.

   Up to this, it had been funded by tithes. Tithes were tax-like payments
   paid in Ireland by members of other faiths as well as its own adherents
   to maintain and fund the Anglican Church of Ireland, to which only a
   small minority of the population belonged. The collection of tithes was
   violently resisted by the Catholic majority in the period 1831-36,
   known as the Tithe War. With the disestablishment of the Church of
   Ireland, tithes were abolished. To deal with its new situation, it made
   provision in 1870 for its own government (General Synod) and financial
   management (Representative Church Body).

   The representation of the Church of Ireland in the House of Lords also
   ceased.

   Like other Irish churches, it did not divide when Ireland was
   partitioned in 1920, and continues to be governed on an all-island
   basis, with twelve dioceses organized as two provinces ( Armagh and
   Dublin).

Church today

   Saul church, a modern replica of an early church with a round tower, is
   built on the reputed spot of St Patrick's first church in Ireland.
   Enlarge
   Saul church, a modern replica of an early church with a round tower, is
   built on the reputed spot of St Patrick's first church in Ireland.

   The contemporary Church of Ireland, despite having a number of High
   Church (often described as Anglo-Catholic) parishes, is generally on
   the Protestant end of the spectrum of world Anglicanism. Historically,
   it had little of the difference in churchmanship between parishes
   characteristic of other Anglican Provinces, although a number of
   markedly liberal, High Church or evangelical parishes have developed in
   recent decades. It was the second province of the Anglican Communion
   after the Anglican Church of New Zealand ( 1857) to adopt, on its 1871
   disestablishment, synodical government, and was one of the first
   provinces to ordain women to the priesthood, in 1991.

   The church is structured on a model inherited from pre- Reformation
   times. The Primate of All Ireland is the Archbishop of Armagh (Church
   of Ireland), whose seat is the medieval Saint Patrick's Cathedral,
   Armagh.

   The Church is organised on diocesan or bishopric lines. The Archbishop
   of Dublin, like his Catholic counterpart, is called the Primate of
   Ireland.

   Canon law and church policy are decided by its General Synod, and
   changes in policy must be passed by both the House of Bishops and the
   House of Representatives (Clergy and Laity). Important changes, e.g.
   the decision to ordain female priests, must be passed by two-thirds
   majorities. While the House of Representatives always votes publicly,
   often by orders, the House of Bishops has tended to vote in private,
   coming to a decision before matters reach the floor of the Synod. This
   practice has been broken only once, when in 1999 the House of Bishops
   voted unanimously in public to endorse the efforts of the Archbishop of
   Armagh, the Diocese of Armagh and the Standing Committee of the General
   Synod of the Church of Ireland in their attempts to resolve the crisis
   at the Church of the Ascension at Drumcree, near Portadown.

   The current Archbishop of Armagh is Archbishop Robin Eames, who is due
   to retire at the end of 2006. (He is also called Lord Eames, having
   been appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer). The Archbishop of
   Dublin is Archbishop John Neill.

   The Church of Ireland experienced major decline during the 20th
   Century, both in Northern Ireland, where 75% of its members live, and
   in the Republic of Ireland. However, recent censuses shown an
   unexpected increase in Church membership, the first in almost a
   century. This is largely explained by the great number of Anglican
   immigrants who moved to Ireland, particularly ex-colonists from Africa;
   but some parishes, especially in middle-class areas of the larger
   cities, report some former Catholics joining. There are a number of
   clergy originally ordained for the Catholic Church who have now become
   Church of Ireland clergy.

   The church has two cathedrals in Dublin: within the walls of the old
   city is Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop, and just
   outside the old walls is St. Patrick's Cathedral, the church's National
   Cathedral of Ireland.

Current bishops

   Archbishops:
     * The Most Rev. Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All
       Ireland (retiring effective Jan. 1, 2007)
     * The Most Rev. John Neill, Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of
       Glendalough, Primate of Ireland

   Bishops:
     * The Most Rev. Richard Clarke, Meath and Kildare
     * The Right Rev. Michael Geoffrey St Aubyn Jackson, Clogher
     * The Right Rev. Paul Colton, Cork, Cloyne and Ross
     * The Right Rev. Ken Good, Derry and Raphoe
     * The Right Rev. Harold Miller, Down and Dromore
     * The Right Rev. Alan Harper, Connor
     * The Right Rev. Ken Clarke, Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh
     * The Right Rev. Michael Mayes, Limerick, Ardfert, Aghadoe, Killaloe,
       Kilmacduagh and Emly
     * The Right Rev. Richard Henderson, Tuam, Killala and Achonry
     * The Right Rev. Michael Burrows, Cashel, Waterford, Lismore, Ossory,
       Ferns and Leighlin

Irish Anglicans

   Members of the Church of Ireland include or have included:
     * John Millar Andrews (Prime Minister of Northern Ireland)
     * Rt Rev Alexander Arbuthnot, Bishop of Killaloe
     * Samuel Beckett, playwright and Nobel Prize laureate
     * Heidi Bedell, Irish Green Party councillor. Married to Trevor
       Sargent and first cousin of U2 bassist, Adam Clayton
     * William Bedell Stanford, former member of the Irish Senate (1948),
       Regius Professor of Greek in TCD from 1940-1980, and Chancellor of
       the University of Dublin from 1982-1984.
     * Thekla Beere, first woman secretary of the newly established
       Department of Transport and Power (1959) and chairwoman of the new
       Commission on the Status of Women (1979)
     * George Berkeley, philosopher
     * Jack Boothman, the first member of the Church of Ireland to have
       been elected president of the GAA
     * Sir Basil Brooke (Prime Minister of Northern Ireland)
     * Phyllis Browne, author of "Thanks for the Tea, Mrs Browne",
       published by New Island Books. Married to the late Noel Browne, the
       Minister for Health famously remembered for the Mother and Child
       showdown of 1951
     * Edmund Burke, statesman and philosopher
     * Robert Malachy Burke, contested Dail elections in Galway for the
       Irish Labour Party from 1933-1948 when he was elected to the Upper
       House. Donated Toghermore House to the State, originally as a
       rehabilitation centre for TB patients.
     * Ernest Blythe, Minister for Finance in W.T. Cosgrave's pro-Treaty
       government. Served as managing director of the Abbey Theatre
       1941-67
     * Edward Carson, Dublin-born Unionist - political leader and lawyer
     * Roger Casement, Irish republican leader
     * Erskine Hamilton Childers, fourth President of Ireland
     * Hazel Blair, mother to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. She
       was born in ancient coastal town of Ballyshannon, Donegal, in 1923
       (two years after partition kept it in the South)
     * Countess of Wicklow, Irish Labour Party Senator (1948-52) and
       member of the Irish delegation which helped to draft the statute of
       the Council of Europe. Although very critical about the partition
       of Ireland, she was one of the founders and first chairman of the
       Glencree Reconciliation Centre and she joined hands with the Peace
       Movement in NI in the mid-1970s.
     * James Craig, (Prime Minister of Northern Ireland)
     * Susan Denham, the second most senior Supreme Court judge in Ireland
       (in terms of years served)
     * Robert Dowds, Irish Labour Party county councillor
     * Myles Dungan, RTE broadcaster and convert to the Church of Ireland
     * Robert Emmet, Irish republican leader
     * George Fitzmaurice, writer
     * Arlene Foster, Democratic Unionist politician in Northern Ireland
     * Roy Foster, Professor of Irish history at Oxford University
     * Johnny Fox, Former TD - father of Mildred Fox, currently an
       Independent TD for Wicklow
     * Douglas Gageby, Former editor of the Irish Times
     * Alan Gillis, former president of the Irish Farmers' Association and
       former Fine Gael MEP. Among one of the very few MEPs to have spent
       time in prison, as a result of his involvement in the farmers'
       rights struggle of 1966.
     * Henry Grattan, defender of Irish parliamentary independence
     * Alice Stopford Green, historian
     * Arthur Guinness, (Brewer)
     * TC Hammond, evangelist, later Principal Moore Theological College,
       Sydney
     * Rainsford Hendy, Fine Gael county councillor
     * Mary Henry, Senator for the University of Dublin
     * Paul Hewson ( Bono), lead singer of Irish Rock Band U2
     * Alison Hewson, Bono's Wife
     * Maurice Hewson, former judge and former District Commissioner and
       member of the Colonial Administration of the Gold Coast, West
       Africa . Distant relative of Bono and son of Gilbert Hewson, the
       Independent TD who represented Limerick in the 5th Dail.
     * Rev Stephen Hilliard, Irish Times journalist and alleged IRA
       member, killed by intruder in Rathdrum rectory
     * Rev. R.M. "Bob" Hilliard, the colourful Irish Republican Army
       member who opposed the Treaty and later joined the Communist Party
       of Ireland. Hilliard fought in the International Brigade in the
       Spanish Civil War. He was killed fighting during the Battle of
       Jarama on 14 February 1937. His bravery was remembered by both
       Christy Moore and Luke Kelly in their respective versions of Vive
       La Quinte Brigada.^
     * Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland
     * Lady Valerie Goulding, Fianna Fáil Senator and founder of the
       Dublin Remedial Clinic, which provided physiotherapy for children
       who had been disabled by polio. Converted to Catholicism in 1962
     * Jennifer Johnston, Award-Winning Novelist
     * Seán Lester, Director of Publicity at the Department of External
       Affairs (1924), Diplomat at the League of Nations, serving as its
       last secretary-general
     * C.S. Lewis Belfast-born scholar and author of The Chronicles of
       Narnia
     * Louis MacNeice, Poet
     * Catherine McGuinness, a former independent senator who came to the
       Bar in middle age. Served as a judge of the Circuit Court (1994)
       and High Court (1996) before being appointed to the Supreme Court
       in 2000. Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Chancellor of the Church of
       Ireland
     * Sam Maguire Irish Republican and Gaelic Footballer
     * Martin Mansergh, Fianna Fáil Senator
     * Van Morrison, Belfast born singer
     * James Molyneaux leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (1979-95) and
       now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Molyneaux of Killead.
     * Joe Neville, Fianna Fáil county councillor and Peace Commissioner
     * David Norris, Senator and gay rights campaigner
     * Graham Norton, comedian
     * Seán O'Casey, playwright
     * Terence O'Neill (Prime Minister of Northern Ireland)
     * Jan O'Sullivan, Irish Labour Party TD and daughter of the late Ted
       Gale, (the well-known Limerick Leader journalist, and former
       treasurer of the National Union of Journalists)
     * Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish nationalist leader
     * Howard Robinson, a successful businessman and banker, he created
       the City of Dublin Bank (commonly known today as the Anglo-Irish
       Bank), Father-in-law to Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
     * Trevor Sargent, leader of the Irish Green Party
     * William Sheldon, had the distinction of being the Independent TD on
       whom Éamon de Valera depended for an overall majority during the
       minority Fianna Fáil government of 1951-1954.
     * Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright
     * Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula
     * Jonathan Swift, writer (who served as Dean of Saint Patrick's
       Cathedral, Dublin)
     * Julie Parsons, novelist and former RTE producer. Married to John
       Caden, a lifetime producer of the Gay Byrne radio show.
     * George Plant, Tipperary IRA man who was given a state execution in
       controversial circumstances, in 1942
     * Theobald Wolfe Tone, eighteenth century revolutionary
     * Canon George Townsend, Church of Ireland clergyman who became the
       first Irish convert to the Bahá'í Faith in 1917
     * Hilda Tweedy, founding member of the Irish Housewives' Association,
       an influential pressure group that spoke out about injustices and
       the needs of Irish women, inside and outside the home. Held high
       office in the IHA and the CSW (now the Women's National Council of
       Ireland). In 1975, International Women's Year, she led the Irish
       delegation to the UN meeting in Mexico and was a board member of
       the International Alliance of Women.
     * James Ussher, scholar, Archbishop of Armagh
     * Oscar Wilde, writer, but converted to Roman Catholicism on his
       deathbed.
     * Ivan Yates, Owner of Celtic Bookmakers and former Fine Gael cabinet
       member
     * William Butler Yeats, poet and Nobel Prize laureate

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