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. Like other Anglican churches, it considers
itself to be both Catholic and Reformed.[1]
When the Church in England broke with the Pope and
communion with the Roman Catholic Church, the Church in Ireland likewise underwent
reformation, with those adhering to the new rules becoming the State Church and holding possession of official Church property,
even as doctrine was changed, while the majority of the population remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and continue to do so to this day. As the reformed Church of Ireland took
possession of practically all official Church property, it retained and retains a great repository of religious architecture and
other items.
Despite its numerical minority, however, the Church of Ireland remained the official state church until it was
disestablished on 1 January 1871, by the Liberal government under William Gladstone.
Today the Church of Ireland is, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest church in the island of Ireland. It is
governed by a General Synod of clergy and laity and organized into twelve dioceses. It is led by the Archbishop of
Armagh (styled "Primate of All Ireland"), at present Alan Harper; the church's other archbishop is Archbishop
of Dublin John Neill.
History
Early history
The Church of Ireland traces its origins back to the missions of Saint Patrick. As a
monastically-centered institution, the early Celtic Church of Ireland had a unique
calendar and usages, but was a full part of the wider Western Church.
In 1166, basing his action on the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, which was claimed to give him lordship over Ireland, Henry II of England came to Ireland and in 1171 made himself
"Overlord" of Ireland.
Reformation and beyond
In 1536, during the Reformation, Henry
VIII had the Irish Parliament declare him head of the Irish Church. When the Church of
England was reformed under Edward VI so too did the Church of Ireland. All
but two of the Irish bishops accepted the Elizabethan Settlement and
there is 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.[2]
The 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 I, although 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 Church of Ireland or to Presbyterianism and the Irish-speaking
majority who remained faithful to the Latin liturgy of Roman Catholicism, which remained the majority denomination in
Ireland.
From the birth of the United Kingdom
The Dublin area saw many churches like Saint Stephen's, built in the
Georgian
style during the 18th century.
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 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 Anglo-Catholic movement and had
wide repercussions in the Anglican Communion.
As the official established church, the Church of Ireland was funded partially by tithes
imposed on all Irish citizens, irrespective of the fact that it counted only a minority of the populace among its adherents;
these were a source of much resentment which occasionally boiled over, as in the "Tithe War"
of 1831-36. Eventually, the tithes were ended, replaced with a lower levy called the tithe rentcharge. The
Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869 came into effect in 1871
and ended the role of the Church of Ireland as state church. This terminated both state support and parliamentary authority over
its governance, and taking into government ownership much church property. Compensation was provided to clergy, but many parishes
faced great difficulty in local financing after the loss of rent-generating lands and buildings. The Church of Ireland made
provision in 1870 for its own government, led by the General Synod, and financial management by the Representative Church Body.
With disestablishment, the last remnant of tithes were abolished and the church's representation in the House of Lords also
ceased.
Like other Irish churches, the Church of Ireland did not divide when Ireland was partitioned in 1920, and continues to be governed on an all-island basis.
The 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.
The contemporary Church of Ireland, despite having a number of High Church (often
described as Anglo-Catholic) parishes, is generally on the Low Church 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 of Ireland has two cathedrals in Dublin: within the walls of the old city is Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Dublin, and just outside the old
walls is St. Patrick's Cathedral, which the church designated as a
National Cathedral for Ireland in 1870. Cathedrals also exist in the other dioceses. The church operates a seminary, the
Church of Ireland Theological College, in Rathgar, in the south
inner suburbs of Dublin, and the church's central offices are in Rathmines, adjacent to the
Church of Ireland College of Education.
Membership
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. The latest census records from the Republic
(2006), however, include a rare instance of relative increase.[3] This is perhaps partly explained by the number of Anglican immigrants who have moved to Ireland
recently.
Structure
The polity of the Church of Ireland is Episcopalian church governance, which is the
same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains the traditional structure dating to
pre-Reformation times, a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are twelve of these, each headed by
a bishop. The leader of the five southern bishops is the Archbishop of Dublin; that of the seven northern ones the Archbishop of Armagh; these are styled Primate of Ireland and Primate of All Ireland
respectively, suggesting the ultimate seniority of the latter; although he has relatively little absolute authority, the
archbishop of Armagh is respected as the church's general leader and spokesman.
Canon law and church policy are decided by the church's 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.
Worship and liturgy
The Church of Ireland embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest (referred to as presbyter) and bishop.
Book of Common Prayer
The first translation of the Book of Common Prayer was published in 1606. An
Irish translation of the revised prayer book of 1662 was published in 1712.
Doctrine and practice
- See also: Anglicanism and Anglican doctrine
The center of the Church of Ireland's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:
The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and
critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of
arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by
tradition, which is checked by reason.[4]
Ecumenical relations
Like many other Anglican churches, the Church of Ireland is a member of many ecumenical bodies, including the World Council of Churches and the Irish Council of Churches.
They are also a member of the Porvoo Communion.
See also
References
Further reading
- Anglicanism, Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.
External links
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