Diocese of Down and Dromore

Last updated

United Dioceses of Down and Dromore

Deoise An Dúin agus An Droim Mór
Diocese of Down and Dromore arms.svg
Coat of arms
Location
Country Northern Ireland
Ecclesiastical province Armagh
Archdeaconries Down, Dromore
HeadquartersChurch of Ireland House, 61-67 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2QH
Statistics
Parishes77
Churches111
Members64,500
Information
Denomination Church of Ireland
Cathedral1) Down Cathedral
2) Dromore Cathedral
3) St Anne's Cathedral
Current leadership
Bishop David Alexander McClay,
Bishop of Down and Dromore
Archdeacons The Ven Jim Cheshire
Archdeacon of Down
The Ven Mark Harvey,
Archdeacon of Dromore
Website
downanddromore.org

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 south east of Northern 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 and all of County Down.

Contents

Overview and history

Diocese Highlighted C of I Diocese of Down and Dromore.png
Diocese Highlighted

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. 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 Down Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 172263.jpg
Holy Trinity Cathedral
Dromore Cathedral Dromore Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 67460.jpg
Dromore Cathedral
St Anne's Cathedral Cathedral St. Anne Belfast.jpg
St Anne's Cathedral

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.

Bishops

Although the united diocese works under a single bishop, currently David McClay, each of the two dioceses within it has its own set of officers.

Bishops of Down and Connor [1] [2]
Bishops of Down, Connor and Dromore [6]
Bishops of Down and Dromore [6]

Relation with the Anglican realignment

Former Bishop Harold Miller is a member of GAFCON Ireland, and he attended GAFCON III, held in Jerusalem, on 17–22 June 2018. [9] His successor, David McClay, is also a leading member of GAFCON Ireland. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Armagh (Church of Ireland)</span> Ecclesiastical province of the Church of Ireland

The United Provinces of Armagh and Tuam, commonly called the Province of Armagh, and also known as the Northern Province, is one of the two ecclesiastical provinces that together form the Anglican Church of Ireland; the other is the Province of Dublin. The province has existed since 1833, when the ancient Province of Armagh was merged with the Province of Tuam. The Archbishop of Armagh is its metropolitan bishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Connor (Church of Ireland)</span> Diocese in the Province of Armagh of the Church of Ireland

The Diocese of Connor is in the Province of Armagh of the Church of Ireland.

The Bishop of Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Connor in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The title is currently used by the Church of Ireland, but in the Roman Catholic Church it has been united with another bishopric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry</span> Anglican diocese of the Church of Ireland

The Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry is a former diocese in the Church of Ireland located in Connacht; the western province of Ireland. It was in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. Its geographical remit included County Mayo and part of counties Galway and Sligo. In 2022, the diocese was amalgamated into the Diocese of Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore</span> Catholic diocese in Northern Ireland

The Diocese of Dromore is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses which are subject to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Armagh.

The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick and the village of Connor in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic Church for the diocese of that name, but in the Church of Ireland it has been modified into other bishoprics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Down</span>

The Bishop of Down was an episcopal title which took its name from the town of Downpatrick in Northern Ireland. The bishop's seat (Cathedra) was located on the site of present cathedral church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the Church of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Miller (bishop)</span> Irish Anglican bishop

Harold Creeth Miller is a retired Irish Anglican bishop. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Down and Dromore in the Church of Ireland. Coming from a Methodist background, he was elected bishop in 1997 and was considered to represent an evangelical position within the Church.

The Bishop of Down and Dromore is the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Down and Dromore in the Province of Armagh. The diocese is situated in the north east of Ireland, which includes all of County Down, about half of the city of Belfast, and some parts of County Armagh east of the River Bann.

The Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Down, Connor and Dromore; comprising all County Down and County Antrim, including the city of Belfast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles D'Arcy</span>

Charles Frederick D'Arcy was a Church of Ireland bishop. He was the Bishop of Clogher from 1903 to 1907 when he was translated to become Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin before then becoming the Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore. He was then briefly the Archbishop of Dublin and finally, from 1920 until his death, Archbishop of Armagh. He was also a theologian, author and botanist.

The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.

The Dean of Tuam is a post held in the Diocese of Tuam, as head of the cathedral chapter from after the creation of the diocese at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111.

Robert Leslie was an Anglican prelate who served in the Church of Ireland as the Bishop of Dromore (1660–61), then Bishop of Raphoe (1661–71), and finally Bishop of Clogher (1671–72).

The Dean of Armagh in the Church of Ireland is the dean of the Anglican St Patrick's Cathedral, the cathedral of the Diocese of Armagh and the metropolitan cathedral of the Province of Armagh, located in the town of Armagh.

The Dean of Down is based in The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Downpatrick within the Diocese of Down and Dromore of the Church of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean of Connor</span>

The Dean of Connor is based at Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn in the Diocese of Connor within the Church of Ireland. The chapter is however known as the Chapter of St Saviours, Connor after the previous cathedral church in Connor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dromore Cathedral</span> Church in County Down, Northern Ireland

Dromore Cathedral, formally The Cathedral Church of Christ the Redeemer, Dromore, is one of two cathedral churches in the Diocese of Down and Dromore of the Church of Ireland. It is situated in the small town of Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archdeacon of Armagh</span> Anglican religious office

The Archdeacon of Armagh is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Anglican Diocese of Armagh. The Archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the Diocese.

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. 1 2 Fryde, ibid., p. 389.
  7. Charles Frederick d'Arcy Archived 12 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine at belfastcathedral.org
  8. Ordination and consecration of Bishop of Down and Dromore on 25 April 1997 at ireland.anglican.org
  9. Bishop Harold reflects on his experience of the recent GAFCON conference, Diocese of Down and Dromore Official Website, 25 June 2018
  10. Authentic Anglicanism and False Fears, GAFCON Official Website, 28 January 2020