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IRELAND, CHURCH OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 791 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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IRELAND, See also:CHURCH OF . The See also:ancient Church of Ireland (described in the Irish Church See also:Act 1869 by this its historic See also:title) has a See also:long and chequered See also:history, which it will be interesting to trace in outline. The beginnings of See also:Christianity in Ireland are difficult to trace, but there is no doubt that the first See also:Christian missionary whose labours were crowned with any considerable success was See also:Patrick (fl. c. 450), who has always been reckoned the See also:patron See also:saint of the See also:country. For six centuries the Church of which he was the founder occupied a remarkable position in Western Christendom. Ireland, in virtue at once of its See also:geographical situation and of the spirit of its See also:people, was less affected than other countries by the movements of See also:European thought; and thus its development, social and religious, was largely See also:independent of See also:foreign influences, whether See also:Roman or See also:English. In full communion with the Latin Church, the Irish long preserved many peculiarities, such as their monastic See also:system and the date at which See also:Easter was kept, which distinguished them in discipline, though not conspicuously in See also:doctrine, from the Christians of countries more immediately under papal See also:control (see IRELAND: See also:Early History). The incessant incursions of the Danes, who were the See also:scourge of the See also:land for a See also:period of nearly three See also:hundred years, prevented the Church from redeeming the promise of her See also:infancy ; and at the date of the English See also:conquest of Ireland (1172) she had lost much of her ancient zeal and of her See also:independence. By this See also:time she had come more into See also:line with the See also:rest of See also:Europe, and the See also:Synod of See also:Cashel put the See also:seal to a new policy by its See also:acknowledgment of the papal See also:jurisdiction and by its decrees assimilating the Church, in See also:ritual and usages, to that of See also:England. There was no thought of a See also:breach of continuity, but the distinctive features of See also:Celtic Christianity gradually disappeared from this time onwards. English See also:influence was strong only in the region See also:round See also:Dublin (known as the See also:Pale) ; and beyond this See also:district the Irish were not disposed to view with favour any ecclesiastical reforms which had their origin in the See also:sister country. Thus from the days of See also:Henry VIII. the See also:Reformation See also:movement was hindered in Ireland by See also:national See also:prejudice, and it never succeeded in gaining the See also:allegiance of the Irish people as a whole.

The policy which directed its progress was blundering and stupid, and reflects little See also:

credit on the English statesmen who were responsible .for it. No See also:attempt was made to commend the principles of the Reformation to the native Irish by conciliating national sentiment; and the policy which forbade the See also:translation of the See also:Prayer See also:Book into the Irish See also:language, and suggested that where English was not understood Latin might be used as an alternative, was doomed to failure from the beginning. And, in fact, the reformed church of Ireland is to this See also:day the church of a small See also:section only of the See also:population. The Reformation period begins with the passing of the Irish Supremacy Act 1537. As in England, the changes in See also:religion of successive sovereigns alternately checked and promoted the progress of the movement, although in Ireland the See also:mass of the people were less deeply affected by the religious controversies of the times than in See also:Great See also:Britain. At See also:Mary's ac-cession five bishops either abandoned, or were deprived of, their See also:sees; but the Anglo-Irish who remained faithful to the Reformation were not subjected to persecution such as would have been their See also:fate on the other See also:side of the Channel. Again, under See also:Elizabeth, while two bishops (See also:William See also:Walsh of See also:Meath and See also:Thomas Leverous of See also:Kildare) were deprived for open resistance to the new See also:order of things, and while stern See also:measures were taken to suppress treasonable potting against the constitution, the See also:uniform policy of the See also:government in ecclesiastical matters was one of See also:toleration. See also:James I. caused the Supremacy Act to be rigorously enforced, but on See also:political rather than on religious grounds. In distant parts of Ireland, indeed, the unreformed order of service was often used without interference from the See also:secular authority, although the bishops had openly accepted the Act of Uniformity. The episcopal See also:succession, then, was unbroken at the Reformation. The Marian prelates are admitted on all hands to have been the true bishops of the Church, and in every See also:case they were followed by a line of lawful successors, leading down to the See also:present occupants of the several sees. The See also:rival lines of Roman See also:Catholic titulars are not in See also:direct succession to the Marian bishops, and cannot be regarded as continuous with the See also:medieval Church.

The question of the continuity of the pre-Reformation Church with the Church of the Celtic period before the Anglo-See also:

Norman conquest of Ireland is more difficult. Ten out of eleven archbishops of See also:Armagh who held See also:office between 1272 and 1439 were consecrated outside Ireland, and there is no See also:evidence forthcoming that any one of them derived his apostolic succession through bishops of the Irish Church. It may be stated with confidence that the present Church of Ireland is the direct and legitimate successor of the Church of the 14th and 15th centuries, but it cannot so clearly be demonstrated that any existing organization is continuous with the Church of St Patrick. In the reign of James I. the first See also:Convocation of the See also:clergy was summoned in Ireland, of which See also:assembly the most notable act was the See also:adoption of the " Irish Articles " (1615). These had been See also:drawn up by See also:Usher, and were more decidedly Calvinistit in See also:tone than the See also:Thirty-nine Articles, which were not adopted as See also:standards in Ireland until 1634, when See also:Strafford forced them on • Convocation. During the See also:Commonwealth period the bishoprics which became vacant were not filled; but on the See also:accession of See also:Charles II. the Church was strengthened by the translation of See also:John Bramhall (the most learned and zealous of the prelates) from Derry to the primatial see of Armagh, and the See also:consecration of twelve other bishops, among whom was See also:Jeremy See also:Taylor. The See also:short period during which the policy of James II. prevailed in Ireland was one of disaster to the Church; but under William and Mary she regained her former position. She had now been reformed for more than See also:loo years, but had made little progress; and the tyrannical provisions of the Penal See also:Code introduced by the English government made her more unpopular than ever. The clergy, finding their ministrations unacceptable to the great mass of the population, were tempted to indolence and non-See also:residence; and although See also:bright exceptions could be named, there was much that called for reform. To William See also:King (1650-1729), See also:bishop of Derry, and subsequently See also:archbishop of Dublin, it was mainly due that the See also:work of the Church was reorganized, and the impulse which he gave it was See also:felt all through the 18th See also:century. His ecclesiastical influence was exerted in direct opposition to See also:Primate See also:Hugh Boulter and his school, who aimed at making the Established Church the See also:instrument for the promotion of English political opinions rather than the spiritual See also:home of the Irish people. In 'Soo the Act of See also:Union was passed by the Legislature; and thenceforward, until Disestablishment, there was but one " See also:United Church of England and Ireland." Continuous agitation for the removal of Roman Catholic disabilities brought about in 1833 the passing of the Church Temporalities Act, one of the most important provisions of which was the reduction of the number of Irish archbishoprics from four to two, and of bishoprics from eighteen to ten, the funds thus released being administered by commissioners.

In 1838 the Tithe Rentcharge Act, which, transferred the See also:

payment of See also:tithes from the occupiers to the owners of land, was passed, and thus a substantial grievance was removed. It became increasingly See also:plain, however, as years passed, that all such measures of See also:relief were inadequate to allay the dissatisfaction felt by the See also:majority of Irishmen because of the continuedexistence of the Established Church. Her position had been pledged to her by the Act of Union, and she was undoubtedly the See also:historical representative of the ancient Church of the land; but such arguments proved unavailing in view of the visible fact that she had not gained the affections of the people. The See also:census of 1861 showed that out of a See also:total population of 5,798,967 only 693,357 belonged to the Established Church, 4,505,265 being Roman Catholics; and once this had been made clear, the passing of the Act of Disestablishment was only a question of time. Introduced by Mr See also:Gladstone, and passed in 1869, it became See also:law on the 1st of See also:January 1871. The Church was thus suddenly thrown on her own resources, and called on to reorganize her ecclesiastical system, as well as to make See also:provision for the See also:maintenance of her future clergy. A See also:convention of the bishops, clergy, and laity was summoned in 1870, and its first act was to declare the adherence of the Church of Ireland to the ancient standards, and her determination to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, while reaffirming her See also:witness, as See also:Protestant and Re-formed, against the innovations of See also:Rome. Under the constitution then agreed on, the supreme governing See also:body of the Church is the See also:General Synod, consisting of the bishops and of 208 clerical and 416 See also:lay representatives of the several dioceses, whose See also:local affairs are managed by subordinate Diocesan Synods. The bishops are elected as vacancies arise, and, with certain restrictions, by the Diocesan Synods, the Primate, whose see is Armagh, being chosen by the bishops out of their own number. The patronage of benefices is vested in boards of nomination, on which both the See also:diocese and the See also:parish are represented. The Diocesan Courts, consisting of the bishop, his See also:chancellor, and two elected members, one clerical and the other lay, See also:deal as courts of first instance with legal questions; but there is an See also:appeal to the See also:Court of the General Synod, composed of three bishops and four laymen who have held judicial office. During the years 1871 to 1878 the revision of the Prayer Book mainly occupied the See also:attention of the General Synod; but although many far-reaching resolutions were proposed by the then predominant Evangelical party, few changes of moment were carried, and none which affected the Church's doctrinal position.

A two-thirds majority of both the lay and clerical See also:

vote is necessary before any See also:change can be made in the formularies, and an ultimate See also:veto rests, on certain conditions, with the See also:house of bishops. The effects of Disestablishment have been partly See also:good and partly evil. On the one See also:hand, the Church has now all the benefits of See also:autonomy and is See also:free from the anomalies incidental to See also:state control. Her See also:laws are definite, and the authority of her judicial courts is recognized by all her members. The See also:place given to the laity in her synods has quickened in them the sense of responsibility so essential to the Church's progress. And although there are few worldly inducements to men to take orders in Ireland, the clergy are, for the most See also:part, the equals of their predecessors in social See also:standing and in intellectual equipment, while the See also:standard of clerical activity is higher than in pre-Disestablishment days. On the other hand, the vesting of patronage in large bodies like synods, or (as is the case in some districts) in nominators with little knowledge of the Church beyond the See also:borders of their own parish, is not an ideal system, although it is working better as the dangers of parochialism and provinciality are becoming more generally recognized than in the early years of Disestablishment. The finances are controlled by the Representative Church Body, to which the sum of £7,581,075„ sufficient to provide See also:life annuities for the existing clergy (2043 in number), amounting to £596,913, was handed over by the Church Temporalities Commissioners in 187o. So skilfully was this fund administered, and so generous were the contributions of clergy and laity, at and since Disestablishment, that while on 31st See also:December 1906 only 136 annuitants were living, the total See also:assets in the custody of the Representative Church Body amounted at that date to £8,729,941. Of this sum no less than £6,525,952 represented the free-will offerings of the members of the Church for the thirty-seven years ending 31St December 1906. Out of the See also:interest on See also:capital, augmented by the See also:annual parochial assessments, which are administered by the central office, See also:pro-See also:vision has to be made for two archbishops at £25o0 per annum, eleven bishops, who receive about £1500 each, and over 1500 parochial clergy. Of the clergy only 338 are curates, while 1161 are incumbents, the See also:average annual income of a See also:benefice being about £240, with (in most cases) a house.

The large majority of the clergy receive their training in the Divinity School of Trinity See also:

College, Dublin. At the census of 1901 the members of the Church of Ireland numbered 579,385 out of a total population of 4,456,546. See R. See also:Mant, History of the Church of Ireland (2 vols., See also:London, 1840) ; Essays on the Irish Church, by various writers (See also:Oxford, 1866) ; Maziere See also:Brady, The Alleged See also:Conversion of the Irish Bishops (London, 1877); A. T. See also:Lee, The Irish Episcopal Succession (Dublin, 1867); G. T. See also:Stokes, Ireland and the' Celtic Church (London, 1888), Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church (London, 1892), Some Worthies of the Irish Church (London, 1900); T. Olden, The Church of Ireland (London, 1892) ; J. T. See also:Bail, The Reformed Church of Ireland (London, 189o) ; H. C.

Groves, The Titular Archbishops of Ireland (Dublin, 1897) ; W. Lawlor, The Reformation in Ireland (London, 1906); Reports of the Representative Church Body (Dublin, 1872-1905). (J. H.

End of Article: IRELAND, CHURCH OF

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