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106-452: James Ussher (or Usher ; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius of Antioch , and for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of

212-532: A monastic to a diocesan and parish -based mode of organisation and governance . Many Irish present-day dioceses trace their boundaries to decisions made at the synod. The work of organizing the Church was completed by the Synod of Kells which took place in 1152, under the presidency of Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni . Diocesan reform continued and the number of archbishoprics was increased from two to four. The synod granted

318-576: A clerk in the court of Chancery , was said to have been descended from one, Neville, who came over (to Ireland) with King John in the capacity of usher and had changed his name to that of his office. James was taught to read by two aunts who had been blind from infancy, to whom he ever afterward looked back with affection and respect. From eight to thirteen years of age he attended the school kept by Fullerton and Hamilton, private emissaries of James VI of Scotland, sent to keep up his influence in Ireland, in view of

424-453: A considerable property, not to marry any other than Dr. Usher, "should he propose himself." [1] 1619 Ussher travelled to England, where he remained for two years. His and Phoebe's only child was Elizabeth Ussher (1619–93), who married Sir Timothy Tyrrell , of Oakley, Buckinghamshire . She was the mother of James Tyrrell . Dr. Ussher became prominent after meeting James I . In 1621 James I nominated Ussher Bishop of Meath . He became

530-439: A four-year interregnum between Lord Deputies from 1629 on, there was an increase in efforts to impose religious conformity on Ireland. In 1633, Ussher wrote to the new Archbishop of Canterbury , William Laud , in an effort to gain support for the imposition of recusancy fines on Irish Catholics. Thomas Wentworth , who arrived as the new Lord Deputy in Ireland in 1633, deflected the pressure for conformity by stating that firstly,

636-672: A national figure in Ireland, becoming Privy Councillor in 1623 and an increasingly substantial scholar. A noted collector of Irish manuscripts, he made them available for research to fellow scholars such as his friend, Sir James Ware . From 1623 until 1626 he was again in England and was excused from his episcopal duties to study church history. He was nominated Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh in 1625 and succeeded Christopher Hampton , who had succeeded Ussher's uncle Henry twelve years earlier. After his consecration in 1626, Ussher found himself in turbulent political times. Tension

742-564: A new edition of a work first published in 1622, his "Discourse on the Religion Anciently Professed by the Irish", a ground-breaking study of the early Irish church , which sought to demonstrate how it differed from Rome and was, instead, much closer to the later Protestant church. This was to prove highly influential, establishing the idea that the Church of Ireland was the true successor of the early Celtic church. In 1639, he published

848-617: A papal fief and granted Henry II of England the Lordship of Ireland in return for paying tithes ; his right to do so has been disputed ever since. In 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy , which broke communion with the papacy and recognised Henry VIII as head of the Church of England; two years later, the Irish Parliament followed suit by acknowledging him as head of

954-548: A previous Vice-Provost , Luke Challoner, and published his first work. In 1615, he was closely involved with the drawing up of the first confession of faith of the Church of Ireland, the Irish Articles of Religion . James was born in the parish of St. Nicholas, to Arland Ussher (1545-1598) and Margaret Ussher (nee Stanihurst) (1547-1601). It is recorded in Alfred Webb's, A Compendium of Irish Biography (1878) that his father,

1060-513: A priest on 20 December 1601) by his uncle Henry Ussher , the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. Ussher went on to become Chancellor of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in 1605 and Prebend of Finglas . He became Professor of Theological Controversies at Trinity College and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1607, Doctor of Divinity in 1612, and then Vice-Chancellor in 1615 and vice-provost in 1616. In 1613, he married Phoebe, daughter of

1166-541: A royalist stronghold. Though Charles severely tested Ussher's loyalty by negotiating with the Catholic Irish, the Primate remained committed to the royal cause, though as the king's fortunes waned Ussher had to move on to Bristol , Cardiff , and then to St Donat's . In June 1646, he returned to London under the protection of his friend, Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Peterborough , in whose houses he stayed from then on. He

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1272-578: A series of reforms by the 1830–1834 Whig government that included the Reform Act 1832 , it caused deep political splits. The implications of government legislating church governance was a contributory factor in the Oxford Movement and had wide repercussions for the Anglican Communion. Another source of resentment was the funding of the Church by tithes imposed on all Irish subjects, even though

1378-485: A six-member delegation which included two bishops; Ferran Glenfield of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh and Harold Miller of Down and Dromore . Their participation was criticised by some members of the Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland is not a member of GAFCON and the church communicated that attendance by clergy was unofficial in "a personal capacity" and the General Synod has voted against GAFCON's statement on

1484-513: A state organisation; its bishops were removed from the House of Lords and its property transferred to the government. Compensation was paid but in the immediate aftermath, parishes faced great difficulty in local financing after the loss of rent-generating lands and buildings. The head of the Church of Ireland is, ex officio , the Archbishop of Armagh . In 1870, immediately prior to its disestablishment,

1590-622: A warm-up for his most famous work, the Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi origine deducti ("Annals of the Old Testament, deduced from the first origins of the world"), which appeared in 1650, and its continuation, Annalium pars posterior , published in 1654. In this work, he calculated the date of the Creation to have been nightfall on 22 October 4004 BC. (Other scholars, such as Cambridge academic, John Lightfoot , calculated their own dates for

1696-582: A whole chapter to the imaginative but invented stories of King Lucius and the creation of a Christian episcopate in Britain. In 1640, Ussher left Ireland for England for what turned out to be the last time. In the years before the Wars of the Three Kingdoms , his reputation as a scholar and his moderate Calvinism meant that his opinion was sought by both King and Parliament. After Ussher lost his home and income through

1802-640: Is a Christian church in Ireland , and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion . It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second-largest Christian church on the island after the Roman Catholic Church . Like other Anglican churches, it has retained elements of pre-Reformation practice, notably its episcopal polity , while rejecting the primacy of the pope . In theological and liturgical matters, it incorporates many principles of

1908-575: Is a movement of reform and revitalisation which has enabled faithful Anglicans to remain within the Communion, especially in North America and Brazil. While being clear that participation in its common life is based upon fidelity to the biblical gospel, not merely upon historic ties, the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration of 2008 says quite unequivocally that 'Our fellowship is not breaking away from

2014-496: Is that Ussher thought that the Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp was also inauthentic; most modern scholars believe it to be a genuine production of Ignatius, however. Ussher now concentrated on his research and writing and returned to the study of chronology and the church fathers . After a 1647 work on the origin of the Creeds , Ussher published a treatise on the calendar in 1648. This was

2120-609: The Antichrist . Ussher had an obsession with "Jesuits disguised as" Covenanters in Scotland, highwaymen when he was robbed, non-conformists in England, it was a remarkable list. However, Ussher also wrote extensively on theology, patristics and ecclesiastical history, and these subjects gradually displaced his anti-Catholic work. After Convocation in 1634, Ussher left Dublin for his episcopal residence at Drogheda , where he concentrated on his archdiocese and his research. In 1631, he produced

2226-575: The Archbishop of Canterbury , in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of Primates, and is President of the Anglican Consultative Council. 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

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2332-589: The Dublin City University Institute of Education, overseen by the Church of Ireland Centre, based at the former All Hallows College . The church operates a seminary, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute , in Rathgar , in the south inner suburbs of Dublin. The churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by affection and common loyalty. They are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus

2438-603: The Flag of the Anglican Communion . However, the Union Flag continues to fly on many churches in Northern Ireland . The church has an official website. Its journal is The Church of Ireland Gazette , which is editorially independent, but the governing body of which is appointed by the church. Many parishes and other internal organizations also produce newsletters or other publications, as well as maintaining websites. The centre of

2544-485: The House of Lords at Westminster, joining the two archbishops and twenty-four bishops from the Church of England. The Irish Church was over-staffed, with 22 bishops, including 4 archbishops, for an official membership of 852,000, less than that of the Church of England's Diocese of Durham . The Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. 37) reduced these to 12, as well as making financial changes. Part of

2650-517: The Irish House of Lords to enforce this. However, in 1725 Parliament passed the first in a series of 'temporary' Indemnity Acts, which allowed office holders to 'postpone' taking the oaths; the bishops were willing to approve these, since they could be repealed at any point. In the 17th century, religious and political beliefs were often assumed to be the same; thus Catholics were considered political subversives, simply because of their religion. During

2756-551: The Irish language for use in church services by William Bedell , the Bishop of Kilmore , has been refuted. Ussher certainly preferred to be a scholar when he could be. He engaged in extensive disputations with Roman Catholic theologians, and even as a student he challenged a Jesuit relative, Henry Fitzsimon (Ussher's mother was Catholic), to dispute publicly the identification of the Pope with

2862-493: The Irish uprising of 1641, Parliament voted him a pension of £400 while the King awarded him the income and property of the vacant See of Carlisle . Despite their occasional differences, he remained a loyal friend to Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford , and when the latter was sentenced to death by Parliament, pleaded with the King not to allow the execution of the verdict: unlike some of his episcopal colleagues, he insisted that

2968-565: The Kingdom of Dublin looked to the English Diocese of Canterbury for guidance, in 1005 AD Brian Ború made a large donation to the Monastery of Armagh and recognised its Archbishop as Primate of all Ireland in an attempt to secure his position as High King of Ireland. Inspired by Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair , reformist head of Bangor Abbey , the 1111 Synod of Ráth Breasail sought to reduce

3074-536: The Non-Juring schism , although for the vast majority, this was a matter of personal conscience, rather than political support for James. The Irish church was less affected by this controversy, although the Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh became a Non-Juror, as did a handful of the clergy, including Jacobite propagandist Charles Leslie . The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland is traditionally viewed as beginning in 1691 when

3180-615: The Primacy of Ireland to the Archdiocese of Armagh . Some modern scholarship argues that early Irish Christianity was functionally separate from Rome but shared much of its liturgy and practice, and that this allowed both the Church of Ireland and Irish Catholicism to claim descent from Saint Patrick . It is also said that the Catholic Church in Ireland was jurisdictionally independent until 1155, when Pope Adrian IV purported to declare it

3286-578: The Reformation , particularly those of the English Reformation , but self-identifies as being both Reformed and Catholic , in that it sees itself as the inheritor of a continuous tradition going back to the founding of Christianity in Ireland . As with other members of the global Anglican communion, individual parishes accommodate differing approaches to the level of ritual and formality, variously referred to as High and Low Church . As of 2013,

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3392-499: The Treaty of Limerick ended the 1689–1691 Williamite War . The Church re-established control and the 1697 Banishment Act expelled Catholic bishops and regular clergy from Ireland, leaving only the so-called secular clergy . In 1704, the Test Act was extended to Ireland; this effectively restricted public office to members of the Church of Ireland and officially remained in place until

3498-527: The Werburgh Street Theatre . Ussher soon found himself at odds with the rise of Arminianism and Wentworth and Laud's desire for conformity between the Church of England and the more Calvinistic Church of Ireland . Ussher resisted this pressure at a convocation in 1634, ensuring that the English Articles of Religion were adopted as well as the Irish articles, not instead of them, and that

3604-524: The creation as "the entrance of the night preceding the 23rd day of October... the year before Christ 4004"; that is, around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, per the proleptic Julian calendar . Ussher was born in Dublin to a well-to-do family. His maternal grandfather, James Stanihurst , had been speaker of the Irish parliament . Ussher's father, Arland Ussher, was a clerk in chancery who married Stanihurst's daughter, Margaret (by his first wife Anne Fitzsimon), who

3710-515: The 1649–1652 Cromwell's re-conquest of Ireland . The church was re-established after the 1660 Restoration of Charles II and in January 1661, meetings by 'Papists, Presbyterians, Independents or separatists' were made illegal. In practice, the penal laws were loosely enforced and after 1666, Protestant Dissenters and Catholics were allowed to resume their seats in the Parliament of Ireland . In 1685,

3816-438: The 1829 Catholic Relief Act . However, the practice of occasional conformity continued, while many Catholic gentry by-passed these restrictions by educating their sons as Protestants, their daughters as Catholics; Edmund Burke , who was raised Church of Ireland but whose parents simultaneously raised his sister Juliana Catholic, is one example. It is estimated fewer than 15 – 20% of the Irish population were nominally members of

3922-535: The 18th century, sectarian divisions were replaced by a growing sense of Irish autonomy; in 1749, Bishop Berkeley issued an address to the Catholic clergy, urging them to work together with the church in the (Irish) national interest. After 1750, the government increasingly viewed Catholic emancipation as a way to reduce the power of Protestant nationalists like the United Irishmen ; this had potential implications for

4028-627: The 20th century, both in Northern Ireland, where around 65% of its members live, and in the Republic of Ireland. The church is still the second-largest in the Republic of Ireland , with 126,414 members in 2016 (minus 2% compared to the 2011 census results) and the third-largest in Northern Ireland , with around 260,000 members. The most recently available figures published by the Church of Ireland, dating to 2013, found that average Sunday attendance across

4134-557: The 4th-century Donation of Constantine , which allegedly gave the Papacy religious control over all Christian territories in the western Roman Empire . Its legality was disputed at the time, since Ireland had never been part of the empire, while the Donation itself was later exposed as a forgery. Since Ireland was now considered a papal fief , its bishops were appointed by Rome but generally adopted English liturgy and saints, such as Edward

4240-649: The Anglican Communion'." Like many other Anglican churches, the Church of Ireland is a member of many ecumenical bodies, including the World Council of Churches , the Conference of European Churches , Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches . It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion . In 1999, the church voted to prohibit the flying of flags other than St Patrick's flag and

4346-573: The Catholic James II became king with considerable backing in all three kingdoms; this changed when his policies seemed to go beyond tolerance for Catholicism and into an attack on the established church. His prosecution of the Seven Bishops in England for seditious libel in June 1688 destroyed his support base, while many felt James lost his right to govern by ignoring his coronation Oath to maintain

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4452-438: The Church of Ireland claimed to be the original and universal church, while the Papacy was an innovation, thus vesting it with the supremacy of Apostolic succession . This argument was supported by Ussher, and Charles' former personal chaplain, John Leslie , a key supporter of Caroline reforms in Scotland, appointed bishop of Derry & Raphoe in 1633. During the 1641–1653 Irish Confederate Wars , nearly two-thirds of Ireland

4558-660: The Church of Ireland drew up its own confession of faith , similar to the English version, but more detailed, less ambiguous and often explicitly Calvinist. When the Thirty-Nine Articles were formally adopted by the Irish church in 1634, Ussher ensured they were in addition to the Irish Articles; however, they were soon superseded by the Thirty Nine Articles, which remain in use to the present day. Under Charles I ,

4664-535: The Church of Ireland has approximately 384,176 total members and 58,000 active baptised members. The Church of Ireland has two cathedrals in Dublin: within the line of 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 the National Cathedral for Ireland in 1870. Cathedrals also exist in

4770-482: The Church of Ireland itself would have to be properly resourced, and he set about its re-endowment. He settled the long-running primacy dispute between the sees of Armagh and Dublin in Armagh's favour. The two clashed on the subject of the theatre: Ussher had the usual Puritan antipathy to the stage, whereas Wentworth was a keen theatre-goer, and against Ussher's opposition, oversaw the foundation of Ireland's first theatre,

4876-513: The Church of Ireland ranked "second in the State in terms of the provision of primary schools with 174 schools under its Patronage." There were "over 500 teachers and over 13,500 pupils in Church of Ireland Primary schools." There were at the time "twenty post-primary schools in the State which are either affiliated with the Church of Ireland at diocesan level or" are self-identified as Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland sees itself as that 'part of

4982-476: The Church of Ireland's teaching is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ . The basic teachings of the church include: Sir Timothy Tyrrell He faithfully and valiantly asserted the cause of his master, King Charles I, and was a captain of a cavalry regiment, colonel of a foot regiment, governor of Cardiff Castle in Wales, and general of the ordnance in that province. According to his memorial "He

5088-440: The Church provided for its internal government, led by a General Synod, and with financial and administrative support by a Representative Church Body. Like other Irish churches, the Church of Ireland did not divide when Ireland was partitioned in the 1920s and it continues to be governed on an all-Ireland basis. The polity of the Church of Ireland is episcopal church governance , as in other Anglican churches. The church maintains

5194-525: The Confessor , and Thomas Becket . In 1536, the Irish Parliament followed their English colleagues by accepting Henry VIII of England as head of the church, rather than the Pope. This marks the founding of the reformed Church of Ireland, confirmed when Henry became King of Ireland in 1541. Largely restricted to Dublin , led by Archbishop George Browne , it expanded under Edward VI , until Catholicism

5300-504: The Creation is today considered a fringe activity, in Ussher's time such a calculation was still regarded as an important task, one also attempted by many Post-Reformation scholars, such as Joseph Justus Scaliger and physicist Isaac Newton . Ussher's chronology represented a considerable feat of scholarship: it demanded great depth of learning in what was then known of ancient history, including

5406-450: The Creation.) The time of the Ussher chronology is frequently misquoted as being 9 a.m., noon or 9 p.m. on 23 October. See the related article on the chronology for a discussion of its claims and methodology. Ussher's work is now used to support Young Earth Creationism , which holds that the universe was created thousands of years ago (rather than billions). But while calculating the date of

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5512-553: The Hebrew text of the Old Testament. In 1656, he went to stay in the Countess of Peterborough's house in Reigate , Surrey. On 19 March, he felt a sharp pain in his side after supper and took to his bed. His symptoms seem to have been those of a severe internal haemorrhage. Two days later he died, aged 75. His last words were reported as: "O Lord, forgive me, especially my sins of omission". His body

5618-433: The House of Bishops and the House of Representatives. The House of Bishops includes the 10 diocesan bishops and two archbishops, forming one order. The House of Representatives is made up of two orders, clergy and laity . The order of clergy holds one third of the seats while the laity holds two-thirds of the seats. As of 2017, there are 216 clergy members and 432 lay members in the House of Representatives. The membership of

5724-412: The House of Representatives is made up of delegates from the dioceses, with seats allocated to each diocese's clergy and laity in specific numbers; these delegates are elected every three years. The general synod meets annually, and special meetings can be called by the leading bishop or one third of any of its orders. Changes in policy must be passed by a simple majority of both the House of Bishops and

5830-421: The House of Representatives. Changes to doctrine, for example the decision to ordain women as priests, must be passed by a two-thirds majority of both Houses. The two sit together for general deliberations but separate for some discussions and voting. 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

5936-422: The Houses of the general synod, which when passed become Statutes. The church's governing document, its constitution, is modified, consolidated and published by way of statute also, the most recent edition, the 13th, being published in 2003. The representative body of the Church of Ireland, often called the "Representative Church Body" (RCB), is the corporate trustee of the church, as established by law, and much of

6042-463: The Irish canons had to be redrafted based on the English ones rather than replaced by them. Theologically, he was a Calvinist although on the matter of the atonement he was (somewhat privately) a hypothetical universalist . His most significant influence in this regard was John Davenant , later an English delegate to the Synod of Dort , who managed to significantly soften that Synod's teaching regarding limited atonement. In 1633, Ussher had supported

6148-470: The Irish Church which was influenced by the Reformation , and has its origins in the early Celtic Church of St Patrick '. This makes it both catholic , as the inheritor of a continuous tradition of faith and practice, and protestant , since it rejects the authority of Rome and accepts changes in doctrine and liturgy caused by the Reformation. Following the Synod of Ráth Breasail (also known as Rathbreasail) in 1111, Irish Catholicism transitioned from

6254-400: The Irish church. Although many bishops and most of the clergy refused to conform, the Church of Ireland was left with diocesan buildings and lands, since under the feudal system bishops held that property as vassals of the Crown. Despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the new church, a large majority of the Irish remained loyal to the Church of Rome , while in Ulster

6360-425: The King was absolutely bound in conscience by his promise to Strafford that whatever happened his life would be spared. The King did not take his advice, but clearly afterwards regretted not doing so, as is shown by his reference on the scaffold to Strafford's death as "that unjust sentence which I suffered to take effect". In early 1641 Ussher developed a mediatory position on church government, which sought to bridge

6466-475: The King. They did, however, have an afterlife, being published in England and Scotland well into the eighteenth century. In all, he wrote or edited five books relating to episcopacy. As the middle ground between King and Parliament vanished in 1641–1642, Ussher was forced, reluctantly, to choose between his Calvinist allies in parliament and his instinctive loyalty to the monarchy. Eventually, in January 1642 (having asked parliament's permission), he moved to Oxford,

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6572-405: The Lambeth Conference. GAFCON supporters refuted their critics claims, saying that they endorse Lambeth 1.10 resolution on human sexuality, which is still the official stance of the Church of Ireland, but has been rejected by the liberal provinces of the Anglican Communion . The Rev. Charles Raven stated: "the charge that GAFCON is a breakaway or separatist group is not supported by the evidence. It

6678-496: The Old Testament was published in 1685 by Narcissus Marsh , but the revised BCP was not available until 1712. At the beginning of the 17th century, most native Irish were Catholic, with Protestant settlers in Ulster establishing an independent Presbyterian church. Largely confined to an English-speaking minority in The Pale , the most important figure of the Church's development was Dublin-born theologian and historian, James Ussher , Archbishop of Armagh from 1625 to 1656. In 1615,

6784-400: The Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches. Christianity in Ireland is generally dated to the mid to late 5th century AD , when the Romano-British cleric Saint Patrick began his conversion mission, although the exact dates are disputed. Prior to the 12th century, the Irish church was independent of Papal control, and governed by powerful monasteries , rather than bishops . While

6890-403: The age of thirteen (not an unusual age at the time). He had received his Bachelor of Arts degree by 1598 and was a fellow and MA by 1600 (though Bernard claims he did not gain his MA till 1601). In May 1602, he was ordained in the Trinity College Chapel as a deacon in the Protestant , established , Church of Ireland (and possibly priest on the same day, while Martin Gorst says that he became

6996-562: The appointment of Archbishop Laud as Chancellor of the University of Dublin . He had hoped that Laud would help to impose order on what was, Ussher accepted, a somewhat mismanaged institution. Laud did that, rewriting the charter and statutes to limit the authority of the fellows, and ensure that the appointment of the provost was under royal control. In 1634, he imposed on the college an Arminian provost, William Chappell , whose theological views, and peremptory style of government, were antithetical to everything for which Ussher stood. By 1635, it

7102-646: The axe fell. Ussher wrote two treatises on the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch while doing his work on church hierarchy. They were scholarly achievements that modern experts largely concur with. In Ussher's time, the only collection of Ignatius's writing easily available was the Long Recension, a set of 16 epistles. Ussher closely examined it and found problems that had gone uncommented on for centuries: differences in tone, theology, and apparent anachronistic references to theological disputes and structures that did not exist during Ignatius's time. Additionally, medieval authors commenting on Ignatius did not appear to be reading

7208-422: The care and operation of the parish and one or more church buildings. Special provisions apply to the management and operation of five key cathedrals, in Dublin (which contains two Church of Ireland cathedrals), Armagh, Down, and Belfast. The church has disciplinary and appeals tribunals, and diocesan courts, and a court of the general synod. The Church of Ireland experienced a major decline in membership during

7314-408: The church library. While parishes, dioceses, and other parts of the church structure care for their particular properties, this is often subject to RCB rules. The Church of Ireland embraces three orders of ministry: deacons, priests (or presbyters) and bishops. These orders are distinct from positions such as rector , vicar or canon . Each diocese or united diocese is led by its Ordinary, one of

7420-498: The church since the requirement non-church members pay tithes was deeply resented. The movement ended after the 1798 Rebellion and Ireland's incorporation with Britain. Following the legal union of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain by the Act of Union 1800 , the Church of Ireland was also united with the Church of England to form the United Church of England and Ireland . At the same time, one archbishop and three bishops from Ireland (selected by rotation) were given seats in

7526-417: The church was 58,257, with 74 per cent of this attendance in the Province of Armagh . Attendance varied strongly across dioceses; the most-attended diocese was Down and Dromore, with 12,731 in average Sunday attendance, while the least-attended was Meath and Kildare with 1,463. Similarly, in 2016, a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Anglican Studies by Cambridge University Press found that

7632-474: The church was outnumbered by Presbyterians . However, it remained the established church of the whole of Ireland until the First Gladstone ministry 's Irish Church Act 1869 ( 32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) disestablished it, with effect from 1 January 1871. The modern Church of Ireland is the second largest religious organisation in the Republic of Ireland , and the third largest in Northern Ireland , after

7738-448: The church's property is vested in it. The members of the RCB are the bishops plus diocesan delegates and twelve co-opted members, and it meets at least four times a year. The staff of the representative body are analogous to clerical civil servants, and among other duties they oversee property, including church buildings, cemeteries and investments, administer some salaries and pensions, and manage

7844-455: The church, which remained a minority under pressure from both Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists. The 1719 Toleration Act allowed Nonconformists freedom of worship, while the Irish Parliament paid their ministers a small subsidy known as the 'regium donum.' Although willing to permit a degree of flexibility, like their English counterparts, Irish bishops viewed their status as the national church to be non-negotiable and used their seats in

7950-494: 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 . It was also one of the first provinces to begin ordaining women to

8056-552: The established Church; this practice persisted in both England and Ireland well into the mid-18th century. Lack of Irish Gaelic literature was another restriction; shortly before his death in 1585, Nicholas Walsh began translation of the New Testament . Continued by John Kearny and Nehemiah Donnellan , it was finally printed in 1602 by William Daniel , who also translated the Book of Common Prayer , or BCP, in 1606. An Irish version of

8162-581: 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 in their attempts to resolve the crisis at the Church of the Ascension at Drumcree near Portadown . The church's internal laws are formulated as bills proposed to

8268-565: The gap between the Laudians, who believed in an episcopalian church hierarchy (bishops), and the Presbyterians, who wanted to abolish episcopacy entirely. His proposals, not published until 1656, after his death, as The Reduction of Episcopacy, proposed a compromise where bishops operated in a Presbyterian synodal system, were initially designed to support a rapprochement between Charles and the parliamentarian leadership in 1641, but were rejected by

8374-597: The generally accepted date for the Nativity of Jesus ; moreover, he calculated, Solomon's Temple was completed in the year 3000 from creation, so that there were exactly 1,000 years from the temple to Jesus, who was thought to be the 'fulfilment' of the Temple. In 1655, Ussher published his last book, De Graeca Septuaginta Interpretum Versione , the first serious examination of the Septuagint , discussing its accuracy as compared with

8480-505: The majority were not members. This led to anomalies like the incumbent of a living near Bessborough, who in 1833 was receiving £1,000 per year, despite the fact the parish had no Protestants or even a church. The " Tithe War " of 1831–36 led to their replacement by the tithe rent charge but they did not entirely disappear until the Irish Church Act 1869 . The Act ended the Church's status as

8586-453: The most substantial history of Christianity in Britain to that date, Britannicarum ecclesiarum antiquitates  – the antiquities of the British churches. It was an astonishing achievement in one respect – in gathering together so many previously unpublished manuscript sources. Ussher was very reluctant to arrive at firm judgements as to the sources' authenticity – hence his devotion of

8692-455: The nine bishops and two archbishops, and the Ordinary may have one or more Archdeacons to support them, along with a Rural Dean for each group of parishes. There is a diocesan synod for each diocese; there may be separate synods for historic dioceses now in unions. These synods comprise the bishop along with clergy and lay representatives from the parishes, and subject to the laws of the church, and

8798-595: The other dioceses. There is also the metropolitan cathedral church of Ireland, situated in Armagh, St Patrick's Cathedral . This cathedral is the seat of the archbishop and metropolitan, the Most Reverend John McDowell . The church's central offices are in Rathmines , adjacent to the former Church of Ireland College of Education , and the church's library is in Churchtown. Teacher training now occurs within

8904-472: The parish comprise the general vestry, which meets annually, within 20 days each side of Easter, as the Easter Vestry. There is also a select vestry for the parish, or sometimes for each active church in a parish, comprising the presiding cleric and any curate assistants, along with relevant churchwardens and glebewardens and a number of members elected at the Easter Vestry meeting. The select vestry assists in

9010-459: The power of the monasteries by creating Dioceses headed by bishops, as was common outside Ireland. Under the 1152 Synod of Kells , the Irish church received its own archbishops, rather than being subject to Canterbury. Under the Laudabiliter in 1155, English-born Pope Adrian IV granted Henry II of England the Lordship of Ireland in return for paying tithes to Rome. His claim was based on

9116-523: The priesthood (1991). GAFCON Ireland was launched on 21 April 2018, in Belfast , with 320 attendees from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. International speakers included Archbishops Peter Jensen (retired Archbishop of Sydney ) and Gregory Venables (Primate of the Anglican Church of South America ). The Church of Ireland was represented at GAFCON III , held on 17–22 June 2018 in Jerusalem , by

9222-478: The primacy of the Protestant religion. This made oaths a high-profile issue, since ministers of the national churches of England, Scotland and Ireland were required to swear allegiance to the ruling monarch. When the 1688 Glorious Revolution replaced James with his Protestant daughter and son-in-law, Mary II and William III , a minority felt bound by their previous oath and refused to swear another. This led to

9328-492: The prospect of his succeeding to the throne of England and Ireland." James's abilities, diligence, and loving disposition from youth are described as "attracting the esteem of all with whom he came in contact." He became one of the first and leading scholars of Trinity College, Dublin (opened 1593). In the beginning of 1614 he married his cousin, Phoebe, daughter of his maternal unlce Dr Lucas Challanor. Webb tells how Phoebe had been enjoined by her fathers will, bequeathing her

9434-414: The reformed church in 1558. Despite accusations of 'moral delinquency', he remained Archbishop and Lord Chancellor until 1567, when he was appointed Bishop of Oxford . The absence of Gaelic-speaking ministers led to the adoption of a gradualist policy, similar to that used in Catholic areas of Northern England. 'Occasional conformity' allowed the use of pre-Reformation rites, combined with acceptance of

9540-475: The result being the "Judgement of the Arch-Bishops and Bishops of Ireland". This begins: The religion of the papists is superstitious and idolatrous; their faith and doctrine erroneous and heretical; their church in respect of both, apostatical; to give them, therefore, a toleration, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion, and profess their faith and doctrine, is a grievous sin. The Judgement

9646-535: The rise of the Persians, Greeks and Romans, as well as expertise in the Bible, biblical languages, astronomy, ancient calendars and chronology. Ussher's account of historical events for which he had multiple sources other than the Bible is usually in close agreement with modern accounts – for example, he placed the death of Alexander in 323 BC and that of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Ussher's last biblical co-ordinate

9752-594: The same letters of the Long Recension. Ussher researched and found a shorter set, usually called the Middle Recension, and argued that only the letters contained in it were authentically Ignatius's. The unknown compiler of the Long Recension edited Ignatius's work and included some of his own, and seems to have had Arian tendencies. He published this Latin edition of the genuine Ignatian works in 1644. The only major difference between Ussher's stance and modern scholars

9858-432: The traditional structure dating to pre-Reformation times, a system of geographical parishes organised into dioceses . There were more than 30 of these historically, grouped into four provinces; today, after consolidation over the centuries, there are eleven Church of Ireland dioceses or united dioceses , each headed by a bishop and belonging to one of two surviving provinces. In 2022 the diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry

9964-412: 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, and is elected in a process different from those for all other bishops. Doctrine, canon law, church governance, church policy, and liturgical matters are decided by the church's general synod . The general synod comprises two houses,

10070-464: The work of the general synod and its committees and the representative body and its committees, oversee the operation of the diocese. Each diocesan synod in turn appoints a diocesan council to which it can delegate powers. Each parish has a presiding member of the clergy, assisted by two churchwardens and often also two glebewardens, one of each type of warden being appointed by the clerical incumbent, and one by popular vote. All qualified adult members of

10176-495: Was an indulgent husband, a kind father, and a good master; just in his dealings, and highly charitable to the poor". He died on 23 October 1701, at the age of 84 years. He is buried in Oakley Church. He was the eldest son of Sir Timothy Tyrrell . He married Elizabeth Ussher , the only daughter of Dr. James Usher , Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland , by whom he had four sons and eight daughters. Their first son

10282-507: Was apparent that Ussher had lost de facto control of the church to John Bramhall , Bishop of Derry , in everyday matters and to Laud in matters of policy. William M. Abbott, Associate Professor of History at Fairfield University , argues that he was an effective and politically important bishop and archbishop. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that he was reactive and sought conciliation rather than confrontation. The story that he successfully opposed attempts to reintroduce

10388-482: Was controlled by the largely Catholic Confederacy , and in 1644, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini became Papal Nuncio to Ireland. Irish Catholicism had developed greater tolerance for Protestants, while sharing their hostility to elaborate ritual. Rinuccini's insistence on following Roman liturgy, and attempts to re-introduce ceremonies such as foot washing divided the Confederacy, and contributed to its rapid collapse in

10494-683: Was deprived of the See of Carlisle by Parliament on 9 October 1646, as the English episcopacy was abolished for the duration of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate . He became a preacher at Lincoln's Inn early in 1647, and despite his royalist loyalties was protected by his friends in Parliament. He watched the execution of Charles I from the roof of the Countess of Peterborough's home in London but fainted before

10600-528: Was embalmed and was to have been buried in Reigate, but at Oliver Cromwell 's insistence he was given a state funeral on 17 April and was buried in the chapel of St Erasmus in Westminster Abbey . Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( Irish : Eaglais na hÉireann , pronounced [ˈaɡlˠəʃ n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ] ; Ulster-Scots : Kirk o Airlann , IPA: [kɪrk ə ˈerlən(d)] )

10706-494: Was merged with Limerick and Killaloe when both of the bishops of the separate dioceses retired and a new bishop was appointed for the combined diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe . The leader of the southern province is the Archbishop of Dublin , at present Michael Jackson ; that of the northern province is the Archbishop of Armagh , at present Francis John McDowell . These two archbishops are styled Primate of Ireland and Primate of All Ireland respectively, suggesting

10812-642: Was not published until it was read out at the end of a series of sermons against the Graces given at Dublin in April 1627. Following Thomas Wentworth 's attainder in April 1641, King Charles and the Privy Council of England instructed the Irish Lords Justices on 3 May 1641 to publish the required Bills to enact the Graces. However, the law reforms were not properly implemented before the rebellion in late 1641. During

10918-462: Was reportedly a Roman Catholic. Ussher's younger and only surviving brother, Ambrose , became a distinguished scholar of Arabic and Hebrew . According to his chaplain and biographer, Nicholas Bernard , the elder brother was taught to read by two blind, spinster aunts. A gifted polyglot , he entered Dublin Free School and then the newly founded (1591) Trinity College Dublin on 9 January 1594, at

11024-462: Was restored by his sister Mary I in 1553. When Elizabeth I of England became queen in 1558, only five bishops accepted her Religious Settlement , and most of the Irish clergy had to be deposed. This was hampered by the church's relative poverty, while adapting to the changes of regime damaged the reputation of those who remained. Hugh Curwen was Dean of Hereford until 1555, when Mary made him Catholic Archbishop of Dublin , before returning to

11130-497: Was rising between England and Spain, and to secure Ireland Charles I offered Irish Catholics a series of concessions, including religious toleration, known as The Graces , in exchange for money for the upkeep of the army. Ussher was a convinced Calvinist and viewed with dismay the possibility that people he regarded as papists might achieve any sort of power. He called a secret meeting of the Irish bishops in his house in November 1626,

11236-688: Was the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II , and beyond this point, he had to rely on other considerations. Faced with inconsistent texts of the Torah , each with a different number of years between the Genesis flood narrative and Creation, Ussher chose the Masoretic version, which claims an unbroken history of careful transcription stretching back centuries – but his choice was confirmed for him, because it placed Creation exactly four thousand years before 4 BC,

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