Diocese of Down and Dromore

The Diocese of Down and Dromore (also known as the United Dioceses of Down and Dromore)is a diocese of the Church of Ireland in the north east of Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. The geographical remit of the diocese covers half of the City of Belfast to the east of the River Lagan and the part of County Armagh east of the River Bann.

Overview and history

When the Church in England broke communion with the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England was established by the state as the established church. Later, by decree of the Irish Parliament, a similar new body became the State Church in the Kingdom of Ireland. It assumed possession of most Church property (and so retained a great repository of religious architecture and other items, though some were later destroyed). The substantial majority of the population remained faithful to the Roman Catholicism, despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the state church. They were obliged to find alternative premises and to conduct their services in secret. The English-speaking minority mostly adhered to the Church of Ireland or to Presbyterianism. On the death of Archbishop Trench of Tuam in 1839, the Province of Tuam was united to the Armagh. Over the centuries, numerous dioceses were merged, in view of declining membership. Until 1944, the dioceses of Down and Dromore were part of the United Dioceses of Down, Connor and Dromore. In 1944, the Diocese of Connor gained a separate existence under its own bishop. It is for this reason that the united diocese has three cathedrals.

Cathedrals

• Holy Trinity Cathedral, Downpatrick
• Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, Dromore.

A third cathedral, St Anne's, Belfast, is shared with the Diocese of Connor.

The Diocese is the second largest of the Church of Ireland in terms of church population, with around 91,000 people and more than one hundred serving ordained Clergy. It is divided up into 79 parishes, with a total of 115 churches.

List of Bishops

Although the United Diocese works under one Bishop, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, each of the two dioceses with in has its own set of officers. Bishops of Down and Connor ^[1][2]

Main article: Bishop of Down and Connor

Eugene Magennis (1542–1559/63) James MacCawell (1565–1567) John Merriman (1569–1571) Hugh Allen (1572–1582) (See vacant, 1582–1593) Edward Edgeworth (1593–1595) John Charden (1596–1601) Roben Humpston (1602–1607) John Todd (1607–1612) James Dundas (1612) Robert Echlin (1613–1635) Henry Leslie (1635–1661)[3] Jeremy Taylor (1661–1667)[4] Roger Boyle (1667–1672)[5]

Thomas Hacket (1672–1694) Samuel Foley (1694–1695) Edward Walkington (1695–1699) Edward Smyth (1699–1720) Francis Hutchinson (1721–1739) Carew Reynell (1739–1743) John Ryder (1743–1752) John Whitcombe (1752) Robert Downes (1752–1753) Arthur Smyth (1753–1765) James Traill (1765–1783) William Dickson (1784–1804) Nathaniel Alexander (1804–1823) Richard Mant (1823–1842)

Bishops of Down, Connor and Dromore ^[6]

Main article: Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore

Richard Mant (1842–1848) Robert Bent Knox (1849–1886) William Reeves (1886–1892) Thomas James Welland (1892–1907) John Baptist Crozier (1907–1911)

Charles Frederick D'Arcy (1911–1919)[7] Charles T. P. Grierson (1919–1934) John Frederick McNeice (1934–1942) Charles King Irwin (1942–1944)

Bishops of Down and Dromore ^[6]

Main article: Bishop of Down and Dromore

William Shaw Kerr (1945–1955) Frederick Julian Mitchell (1955–1969) George Alderson Quin (1970–1980)[8]

Robert "Robin" Eames (1980–1986) Gordon McMullan (1986–1997)[9] Harold Creeth Miller (1997–present)[10]

See also

• List of Anglican dioceses in the United Kingdom and Ireland
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore

References

1. ^ Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 388–389. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
2. ^ Cotton, Henry (1849). The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland. Fasti ecclesiae Hiberniae. Vol. 3, The Province of Ulster. Dublin: Hodges and Smith. pp. 202–218. 
3. ^ s:Leslie, Henry (DNB)
4. ^ Jeremy Taylor at satucket.com
5. ^ s:Boyle, Roger (1617?-1687) (DNB00)
6. ^ ^{a b} Fryde, ibid., p. 389.
7. ^ Charles Frederick d'Arcy at belfastcathedral.org
8. ^ Chapter Clergy and past staff members at belfastcathedral.org
9. ^ Diocese bids farewell to bishop at ireland.anglican.org
10. ^ Ordination and consecration of Bishop of Down and Dromore on 25 April 1997 at ireland.anglican.org

External links

• Diocesan homepage