Patrick MacMahon, O.F.M. (died c.1572 or c.1575) was Bishop of Ardagh in Ireland, recognised at various times by both the Roman Catholic church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland. His appointment to the see was approved by the Vatican on 14 November 1541. [1] [2] The Reformation in Ireland had begun, but there was not yet a definitive break between, on the one hand, the hierarchy recognised by the Roman Curia and, on the other hand, the established church recognised by the Dublin Castle administration of the English king Henry VIII. The Diocese of Ardagh was in the Annaly region of the Farrell clan, of whom Richard O'Ferrall had secured the temporalities of the diocese in July 1541. George Cromer, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and primate of all Ireland, recognised O'Ferrall and had him consecrated on 22 April 1542. [1] Cromer's successor George Dowdall on 15 May 1544 appointed MacMahon instead as a suffragan bishop inter Hibernicos ("among the [Gaelic] Irish"). [3] [4] When the Catholic Queen Mary I succeeded to the throne in 1553, papal supremacy was recognised and MacMahon received the temporalities of Ardagh. [1] While Monahan says that Ardagh was vacant in the Church of Ireland after the accession of Elizabeth I, [1] others regard MacMahon as retaining his place in both hierarchies. [5] [6] A possibly forged papal bull, dated 1568, deprives MacMahon of his see for simony, non-residence, and neglect of the cathedral. [1] A putative 1572 letter from Marshalsea from a former bishop "Malachy" of Ardagh, abjuring "papistical superstition" and promising loyalty to Elizabeth, may if genuine be from MacMahon. [1] MacMahon's death is inferred to have occurred either before 5 November 1572, when a successor was appointed in the Church of Ireland, or else during 1575, before Richard Brady was appointed by the Vatican on 23 January 1576. [1]
The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. Primate is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in the Middle Ages there was an intense rivalry between the two archbishoprics as to seniority. Since 1353 the Archbishop of Armagh has been titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior churchmen in the island of Ireland, the Primate of All Ireland being the more senior. The titles are used by both the Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops. The distinction mirrors that in the Church of England between the Primate of All England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Primate of England, the Archbishop of York.
The Synod of Ráth Breasail was an Irish Catholic church council which took place in Ireland in 1111. It marked the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan and parish-based church. Many Irish present day dioceses trace their boundaries to decisions made at the synod.
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh is the ecclesiastical head of the Church of Ireland, bearing the title Primate of All Ireland, the metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Armagh.
The Archdiocese of Armagh is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the northern part of Ireland. The ordinary is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh who is also the Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical province of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland. The mother church is St Patrick's Cathedral. The claim of the archdiocese to pre-eminence in Ireland as the primatial see rests upon its traditional establishment by Saint Patrick circa 445. It was recognised as a metropolitan province in 1152 by the Synod of Kells.
Dónal McKeown is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and Bishop of Derry in 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.
Cellach of Armagh or Celsus or Celestinus (1080–1129) was Archbishop of Armagh and an important contributor to the reform of the Irish church in the twelfth century. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Cellach. Though a member of the laicised ecclesiastical dynasty of Clann Sínaig, he took holy vows and gained priestly ordination. This put an end to the anomalous state of affairs, in effect since 966, whereby the supreme head of the Irish Church had been a layman. Following the Synod of Ráith Bressail, in which a diocesan structure for Ireland was established, he became the first metropolitan primate of all Ireland.
George Dowdall was a sixteenth-century Irish cleric, who was twice Archbishop of Armagh.
The Synod of Kells took place in 1152, under the presidency of Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni, and continued the process begun at the Synod of Ráth Breasail (1111) of reforming the Irish church. The sessions were divided between the abbeys of Kells and Mellifont, and in later times the synod has been called the Synod of Kells-Mellifont and the Synod of Mellifont-Kells.
The United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough is a diocese of the Church of Ireland in the east of Ireland. It is headed by the Archbishop of Dublin, who is also styled the Primate of Ireland. The diocesan cathedral is Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
The Archbishop of Dublin is a senior bishop in the Church of Ireland, second only to the Archbishop of Armagh. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the metropolitan bishop of the Province of Dublin, which covers the southern half of Ireland, and he is styled Primate of Ireland.
The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.
The Archbishop of Dublin is the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Archdiocese of Dublin. The Church of Ireland has a similar role, heading the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. In both cases, the Archbishop is also Primate of Ireland. The Archbishop has his seat at Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral, though formally Dublin's cathedral is still Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin as recognised by the Holy See. From 29 December 2020 until 2 February 2021, the position had been vacant, as Diarmuid Martin having resigned after turning 75, as canon law required of him. Dermot Farrell was installed as the new Archbishop of Dublin on 2 February 2021.
George Browne D.D. was an English Augustinian who was appointed by Henry VIII of England to the vacant Episcopal see of Dublin. He became the king's main instrument in his desire to establish the state church in the Kingdom of Ireland. An iconoclast, during the Protestant Reformation he is noted for destroying the Bachal Isu, one of the symbols of authority of the Archbishop of Armagh.
James Dillon (1738–1806) was an Irish Roman Catholic Bishop of Kilmore from 1800 to 1806.
Cormac Mác Shamhradháin O.S.A., b. c.1410-d.1476, was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ardagh diocese in Ireland from 1444 to 1476.
Cormac Mág Shamhradháin O.S.A., b. c.1442-d.1511, was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kilmore diocese, Ireland from 1476 to 1480 and the anti-bishop of Kilmore from 1480 to 1511.
Edmund MacGauran was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland from 1587 to 1593 and Bishop of Ardagh from 1581 to 1587.Signature of Edmund MacGauran on a document signed in the Maguire castle at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh on 8 May 1593.
The monastery of Mohill-Manchan was anciently located at Mohill, in county Leitrim. The earliest church was founded by Manchán of Mohill in the 6th century. Little is known about the former monastic community here. About the year 1216, the monastery became a religious house of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine dedicated to the Saint Mary until suppression c. 1550 – c. 1590. The Priory of Mohill was briefly revived during Confederate Ireland rule but suppressed again by Cromwellian forces c. 1649–1653. From the ruins St. Mary's Church, Mohill, of Protestant denomination, was established in the 18th century.