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.
United Dioceses of Down and Dromore Deoise An Dúin agus An Droim Mór | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Ecclesiastical province | Armagh |
| Archdeaconries | Down, Dromore |
| Headquarters | Unit 1, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DE[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 77 |
| Churches | 111 |
| Members | 64,500 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Church of Ireland |
| Cathedral | 1) 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 | |
Overview and history
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When the Church in England broke communion with the 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.
Coat of arms
editIn 2011 the arms of the united diocese were confirmed by the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland. This design quartered arms that had long been recorded in the records of both the College of Arms in London and the Genealogical Office in Dublin as those of the dioceses of Down and Dromore.[2] The arms are blazoned as follows:[3]
Quarterly, 1st and 4th for Down: Azure two keys in saltire, the wards upward Or suppressed by a lamb passant Argent; 2nd and 3rd for Dromore: Argent two keys in saltire the wards upward Gules suppressed by an open book Proper between in chief and in base two crosses patée fitchée Azure.
Cathedrals
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- Holy Trinity Cathedral, Downpatrick
- Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, Dromore.
- St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast (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.
Bishops
editAlthough the united diocese works under a single bishop, currently David McClay, each of the two dioceses within it has its own set of officers.
- John Charden (1596–1601)
- Henry Leslie (1635–1661)[6]
- Jeremy Taylor (1661–1667)[7]
- Roger Boyle (1667–1672)[8]
- John Ryder (1743–1752)
- Richard Mant (1823–1842)
- Bishops of Down, Connor and Dromore[9]
- Richard Mant (1842–1848)
- Robert Bent Knox (1849–1886)
- William Reeves (1886–1892)
- John Baptist Crozier (1907–1911)
- Charles Frederick D'Arcy (1911–1919)[10]
- Charles T. P. Grierson (1919–1934)
- Charles King Irwin (1942–1944)
- Bishops of Down and Dromore[9]
- William Shaw Kerr (1945–1955)
- Frederick Julian Mitchell (1955–1969)
- George Alderson Quin (1970–1980)
- Robert "Robin" Eames (1980–1986)
- Harold Creeth Miller (1997–2019)[11]
- David Alexander McClay (2020–present)
Relation with the Anglican realignment
editFormer Bishop Harold Miller is a member of GAFCON Ireland, and he attended GAFCON III, held in Jerusalem, on 17–22 June 2018.[12] His successor, David McClay, is also a leading member of GAFCON Ireland.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ https://www.downanddromore.org/about-us/contact-us
- ^ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies. The Book of Public Arms (2 ed.). pp. 240–1, 244–5.
- ^ Genealogical Office, Dublin, Grants and Confirmations of Arms, Vol. Aa, fol. 27.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ s:Leslie, Henry (DNB)
- ^ Jeremy Taylor at satucket.com
- ^ s:Boyle, Roger (1617?-1687) (DNB00)
- ^ a b Fryde, ibid., p. 389.
- ^ Charles Frederick d'Arcy Archived 12 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine at belfastcathedral.org
- ^ Ordination and consecration of Bishop of Down and Dromore on 25 April 1997 at ireland.anglican.org
- ^ Bishop Harold reflects on his experience of the recent GAFCON conference, Diocese of Down and Dromore Official Website, 25 June 2018
- ^ Authentic Anglicanism and False Fears, GAFCON Official Website, 28 January 2020