Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh

Kilmore Cathedral, County Cavan

The Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh is a diocese of the Church of Ireland located in central Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh.

It is one of twelve Anglican dioceses in the island of Ireland. The geographical remit covers all of County Leitrim, almost all of counties Cavan, Longford and Roscommon, plus smaller parts of counties Westmeath, Sligo, Donegal and Fermanagh.

Cathedrals

• St Fethlimidh's Cathedral, Kilmore
• St John the Baptist's Cathedral, Sligo.

There had been two other cathedrals, but are now in ruins.

• St Mel's Cathedral, Ardagh was severely damaged by warfare in 1496 and was never restored.
• St Mary's Cathedral, Elphin was destroyed by a violent storm on 4 February 1957.

The historic sees of Kilmore and Ardagh were intermittently united in the 17th and 18th centuries until they were finally united in 1839. They were further merged with the see of Elphin in 1841 to form the current Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. It is for this reason that the united diocese has two cathedrals in current use as well as a number of deconsecrated cathedrals.

Parishes

Each of the dioceses is divided into a number parish groups.^[1]

Diocese of Kilmore

Annagh (Belturbet) Arvagh Bailieborough Drumgoon (Cootehill) Drung

Florencecourt Kildallan Kildrumferton Killeshandra Kilmore (Cathedral)

Kinawley Lurgan (Virginia) Manorhamilton Swanlinbar Urney (Cavan)

Diocese of Elphin

Boyle and Riverstown Calry

Drumcliffe Roscommon

Sligo (Cathedral)

Diocese of Ardagh

Ardagh Mostrim (Edgeworthstown)

South Leitrim Templemichael (Longford)

List of bishops

Main article: Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh

The current Ordinary is the Right Reverend Kenneth Herbert Clarke, who was elected Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh by the Electoral College on 13 November 2000 and consecrated at a service in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh on 25 January 2001.^[2]

John Powell Leslie (1841–1854) Marcus Gervais Beresford (1854–1863) Hamilton Verschoyle (1863–1870) Charles Leslie (1870) Thomas Carson (1870–1874) John Richard Darley (1874–1884) Samuel Shone (1884–1897) Alfred George Elliott (1897–1915) William Richard Moore (1915–1930)

Arthur William Barton (1930–1939) Albert Edward Hughes (1939–1950) Frederick Julian Mitchell (1950–1955) Charles John Tyndall (1956–1958) Edward Francis Butler Moore (1959–1981) William Gilbert Wilson (1981–1993) Michael Hugh Gunton Mayes (1993–2000) Kenneth Herbert Clarke (2001–present)

Overview

The three dioceses of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh were first created in the early and mid 12th-century. The sees of Elphin and Ardagh were established at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111 and the see of Kilmore (originally called Tirbrunensis, Triburnia or Tybruinensis) at the Synod of Kells in 1152.

Following the Reformation in the 16th century, the church in "communion with the Bishop of Rome" used the term "Catholic" to distinguish itself from the various Protestant churches.^[3] The Parliament of Ireland broke communion when it created the Church of Ireland as the State Religion in the Kingdom of Ireland assuming possession of most Church property. The English-speaking minority   mostly adhered to the either the Church of Ireland or, despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the state church, to Presbyterianism.

See also

• List of Anglican dioceses in the United Kingdom and Ireland
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise

References

1. ^ Parishes of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. Retrieved on 21 August 2009.
2. ^ Bishop Ken Clarke. Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. Retrieved on 21 August 2009.
3. ^ McBrien, Richard (2008). The Church. Harper Collins. p. xvii. Online version available Browseinside.harpercollins.com. Quote: "[T]he use of the adjective 'Catholic' as a modifier of 'Church' became divisive only after the East-West Schism ...and the Protestant Reformation ...In the former case, the West claimed for itself the title Catholic Church, while the East appropriated the name Holy Orthodox Church. In the latter case, those in communion with the Bishop of Rome retained the adjective "Catholic", while the churches that broke with the Papacy were called Protestant."

External links

• Anglicans Online: Ireland
• Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh