Bishop_of_Down_and_Connor

Bishop of Down and Connor

Bishop of Down and Connor

Bishopric in Ireland

The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) 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.

History

The sees of Down and Connor were established at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111. For a brief period in the early 12th-century, they were united under Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair (Saint Malachy), who also became Archbishop of Armagh.[1]

On 29 July 1438, plans for a permanent union of the sees of Down and Connor were submitted to King Henry VI of England for his sanction.[2] Exactly twelve months later, 29 July 1439, Pope Eugene IV issued a papal bull stating that Down and Connor were to be united on the death or resignation of either bishop. In 1442, Bishop John Sely of Down was deprived of his see by Pope Eugene IV,[3][4] thereby effecting the union of the two dioceses. John Fossade, who had been bishop of Connor since 1431, became the bishop of the united see of Down and Connor in late 1442. However, due to strong opposition to the union in the diocese of Down, three more bishops of Down were appointed, two whilst Fossade was alive and one after his death. It was not until the appointment of Thomas Knight that the two sees were finally united under one bishop.

Following the upheaval of the 16th century Reformation in Ireland, there were parallel apostolic successions. In the Church of Ireland, Down and Connor merged with Dromore in 1842 to form the bishopric of Down, Connor and Dromore. This arrangement continued until 1945 when the dioceses were separated into the bishoprics of Down & Dromore and Connor.[5][6]

In the Roman Catholic Church, the see of Down and Connor continues to the present day. Since the first half of the nineteenth century the bishop has lived in Belfast rather than the Downpatrick area. The incumbent is the Most Reverend Alan McGuckian, SJ, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor, who was appointed by the Holy See on 2 February 2024 and ordained bishop on 6 August 2017.[7]

Lists of bishops

Pre-Reformation bishops

More information Pre-Reformation Bishops of Down and Connor, From ...

Post-Reformation Church of Ireland bishops

More information Church of Ireland Bishops of Down and Connor, From ...

Post-Reformation Roman Catholic bishops

More information Roman Catholic Bishops of Down and Connor, From ...

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Blyth and Magennis were both bishops in both successions.

References

  1. [1]
    Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 334, 343 and 347.
  2. [2]
    Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 344 and 348.
  3. [3]
    Kilclief Castle. Irish Antiquities. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  4. [4]
    Kilclief Castle, County of Down. Library Ireland. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  5. [5]
    Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 388–389.
  6. [6]
    Cotton 1850, The Province of Connaught, pp. 202–218.
  7. [7]
    Bishops of Down and Connor. Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  8. [8]
    Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 343–344 and 347–348.
  9. [9]
    Cotton 1850, The Province of Connaught, pp. 201–202.
  10. [10]
    O’Laverty, James. “Tiberius, Bishop of down and Connor, 1489-1519.” Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 9, no. 4, 1903, pp. 176–77. JSTOR website Retrieved 28 Feb. 2023.
  11. [11]
    Tanner, Marcus (1 January 2003). Ireland's Holy Wars: The Struggle for a Nation's Soul, 1500-2000. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300092814 – via Google Books.
  12. [12]
    "Bishop Donat O’Gallagher, O.F.M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 March 2016
  13. [13]
    Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 423–424.
  14. [14]
    "Diocese of Down and Connor" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 29 February 2016
  15. [15]
    "Diocese of Down and Connor" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved 29 February 2016
  16. [16]
    "Pope Francis appoints new Bishop of Down and Connor". RTE. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  17. [17]
    "Bishop of Down and Connor appointed as EU Apostolic Nuncio". RTÉ News. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2024.

Bibliography

  • Cotton, Henry (1850). The Province of Connaught. Fasti Ecclesiae Hiberniae: The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland. Vol. 4. Dublin: Hodges and Smith.
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, Reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
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