User:Jnestorius/Names of the Church of Ireland

Primary

Statutes

Treason Act (Ireland) 1537, section 5

And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons at any time after the first day of March next coming, by open preaching, express words or sayings, do affirm or set forth that the King, his heirs or successors, kings of this realm for the time being, is not or ought not to be Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England and Ireland or of any of them immediately under God ... shall suffer forfeiture of goods and imprisonment during the King's pleasure for the first offence [...]

Acts of Union 1800

[Article V of both acts] the churches of England and Ireland, as now by law established, be united into one protestant episcopal church, to be called, "The united church of England and Ireland;" and that the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the said united church shall be, and shall remain in full force for ever, as the same are now by law established for the church of England; and that the continuance and preservation of the said united church, as the established church of England and Ireland, shall be deemed and taken to be an essential and fundamental part of the union;

That the Churches of England and Ireland, as now by Law established, be united into one Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called, The United Church of England and Ireland; and that the Doctrine, Worship, Discipline, and Government of the said United Church shall be, and shall remain in full force for ever, as the same are now by Law established for the Church of England

[1851] 14 & 14 Vict c 71

An Act to repeal certain Statutes relating to the Irish Branch of the United Church of England and Ireland

Irish Church Act 1869

An Act to put an end to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland, and to make provision in respect of the Temporalities thereof, and in respect of the Royal College of Maynooth. [26th July 1869.]

Whereas it is expedient that the union created by Act of Parliament between the Churches of England and Ireland, as by law established, should be dissolved, and that the Church of Ireland, as so separated, should cease to be established by law, and that after satisfying, so far as possible, upon principles of equality as between the several religious denominations in Ireland, all just and equitable claims, the property of the said Church of Ireland, or the proceeds thereof, should be applied in such manner as Parliament shall hereafter direct:

And whereas Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to signify that she has placed at the disposal of Parliament her interest in the several archbishoprics, bishoprics, benefices, cathedral preferments, and other ecclesiastical dignities and offices in Ireland:

[Short title. 1.] This Act may be cited for all purposes as “The Irish Church Act, 1869.”

[Dissolution of legislative union between Churches of England and Ireland. 2.] On and after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one the said union created by Act of Parliament between the Churches of England and Ireland shall be dissolved, and the said Church of Ireland, herein-after referred to as “ the said Church, ” shall cease to be established by law.

Bill as introduced had the same text there

Matrimonial Causes and Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1870

The term “Protestant Episcopalian” shall mean a member of any of the churches following; (that is to say,) The said Church, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church of Scotland, and any other Protestant Episcopal Church.

1937 Constitution

Article 44.1.3 (deleted by Fifth Amendment in 1973)

The State also recognises the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, as well as the Jewish Congregations and the other religious denominations existing in Ireland at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution.

Parliament

HC Deb 27 April 1868 vol 191 cc1338-424

• Gladstone resolution: "That it is necessary that the Established Church of Ireland should cease to exist as an Establishment"
• Watkin amendment "while this Committee considers that the future position of the Established Church in Ireland should be finally decided upon by the Reformed Parliament"

HL Deb 28 April 1868 vol 191 cc1425-53

• Earl of Derby: "that branch of the Established Church that exists in Ireland"

HC Deb 02 August 1871 vol 208 c704 on the University of Dublin Tests Act 1873:

Jonathan Pim: The Divinity School must be separated from the College, and that would be a very serious loss to the College, and a great injury to the Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland.

HC Deb 21 July 1885 vol 299 cc1405-6

QUESTIONS: IRELAND—THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH OF IRELAND.

MR. [Tim] Healy asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Will instructions now be issued to the Registrar General and other Government Departments in Ireland as to the style by which members of the disestablished religion of that country are to be officially addressed, in accordance with the decision of the authorities that the title "Church of Ireland," no longer belongs to Protestant Episcopalianism?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Sir William Hart Dyke): Her Majesty's Government, on succeeding to Office, found that their Predecessors had come to the conclusion to adopt the title of Protestant Episcopalian Church of Ireland. No orders have been given on the subject, and, owing to the great press of Public Business, the Lord Lieutenant has not yet been able to deal with it.

Dáil Éireann Debate 10 May 1923 c.751

Kevin O'Higgins: various bodies interested in the moral welfare of the people—the Irish Vigilance Association, the Priests' Social Guild, the Catholic Church in Ireland, the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Ireland, the Presbyterian Church

Censuses

The 1871 census recorded 667,998 people under the heading "Protestant Episcopalians". Of these, 'a majority described themselves as members of the "Church of Ireland", and a very considerable minority as "Episcopal Protestants"', while 146,795 described themselves simply as "Protestants". (Further enquiries were needed to classify those who had written "Protestant"; besides Anglicans there were 17,494 others.)

Pre-partition

Note that "Protestant Episcopalians" may be justified as including English or Scottish Anglicans staying in Ireland; but were these in fact so returned? Check the small print of the "other" break-downs for these listed separately.

• 1861 listed as "Established Church" and form specifies it is particularly requested that Protestants, who are members of the United Church of England and Ireland shall describe themselves as of the "Established Church,"

check detail for aliases used.

• 1871 pp.105-6 listed as "Protestant Episcopalians", explained thus:

the altered legal status, in 1861, of what in 1861 had been known as the Established or United Church of England and Ireland [..] a majority described themselves as members of the "Church of Ireland", and a very considerable minority as "Episcopal Protestants" [...] we grouped these under the universally accepted head of "Episcopal Protestant" [sic; recte "Protestant Episcopalians"]. (p.105) Of 164,289 "Protestants", 146,795 were found on follow-up enquiry to be CofI. (p.106) Total was 667,998 Protestant Episcopalians (p.106).

• • p.464 "In filling up this column, members of the different religious denominations are requested to declare themselves according to the designations by which such denominations are generally known."
• 1891 "Protestant Episcopalians"
• 1911 "Protestant Episcopalians"

Republic

• 1961 Vol.7 The heading "Protestant Episcopalian", which was used at earlier Censuses, has been replaced by "Church of Ireland?*, this being the description appearing on the great majority of the Census Schedules concerned. "Anglican" and "Church of England" are Included under this heading.
• 1991 Vol.5 The 1991 classification separately distinguishes persons described generally as “Protestants”, without a particular denomination being indicated. However, in order to facilitate comparison with the results of previous censuses, Protestants have been included in the “Church of Ireland" category. This category also covers persons whose denominations were given as Church of lreland, Church of England, Anglican, Episcopalian and Catholic Church of Ireland.
• 2011 CSO:
  • Form Q12 checkbox was "Church of Ireland"
  • Report Profile 7 Table 1 has "Church of Ireland"
  • Online has "Church of Ireland, England, Anglican, Episcopalian"

Dublin Castle

1885

As regards the title ' Church of Ireland,' which no other community claims, but which is grudged to the Church once established and endowed, much controversy took place in the present year. It commenced by the remonstrance directed by the General Synod to be sent to Sir W. V. Harcourt, for his terming, in his letter of May 19th 1884, addressed to the Archbishop of Dublin, the Church of Ireland 'the Protestant Episcopal Church.' Sir W. Harcourt having, through his secretary, expressed his regret for the 'clerical error' in erroneously designating the Church of Ireland the Protestant Episcopal Church in Ireland, public attention was aroused as to the question. It was more than once alluded to in the House of Commons, and it was believed that some determination bad been come to by Her Majesty's Government on the subject, when a change of Government took place, and afterwards a judicious reticence as to giving any title to the said Church was observed by those in power. However, the matter was at length referred to the law officers of the Crown, who gave the following opinion : —

We are of opinion that this matter has been practically settled by the Legislature, and that the title of the disestablished Church in Ireland is 'The Church of Ireland.' We do not think it necessary to refer to any of the statutes prior to the Irish Church Act, 1869, by which the establishment of the Church of Ireland was put an end to. It will be observed that this Act is entitled * An Act to put an End to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland.' It recites in the preamble that * it is expedient that the union created by Act of Parliament between the Churches of England and Ireland, as by law established, should be dissolved, and that the ** Church of Ireland " as so separated ^ould cease to be established by law.' The second section provides that the union created between the Churches of England and Ireland should be dissolved, and that the said Church of Ireland, thereinafter referred to as the said Church, should cease to be established by law.

By a subsequent section of the same Act it is provided that ' In all enactments, deeds, and other documents in which mention is made of the united Church of England and Ireland, the enactments relating thereto shall be read distributively in respect of the Church of England and the Church of Ireland.' We find in this statute a clear indication by the Legislature that although the Church is to cease to be established the name of the * Church of Ireland ' is to bo preserved. This is recognised by subsequent Statutes. The Act of 38 Vict. c. 11 recites in the preamble that it is expedient to extend certain benefits to the late established Church of Ireland, and throughout the statute the words used are either * the late Established Church of Ireland,' or ' the said Church.' Again, in a statute dealing with public and parochial records (38 and 39 Vict. c. 59) the expression 'parochial officer' is by the interpretation clause defined to mean ' any rector, vicar, curate, parish clerk, or other parish officer of the Church of Ireland.' A statute passed in 1884 (47 Vict. c. 10) to amend the Irish Church Act, 1869, recognises the title by such phrases as the following 'having regard to the altered circumstances of the said Irish Church'; 'or in any other manner for the benefit of the said Irish Church.'

Thus it will be seen that both in the Act of Disestablishment and in subsequent legislation, either dealing with or referring to the disestablished Church, the Legislature has given or recognised the term 'Church of Ireland,' or its equivalent 'the Irish Church,' as that by which it is to be denominated.

We are, therefore, of opinion that 'the Church of Ireland' is the legal title.

(Signed)	Hugh Holmes	(Attorney-General).
( „ )	John Monroe	(Solicitor-General).

September 29, 1885

Previously to this, in the Lord Lieutenancy of Earl Spencer, the following New Rule of Precedence was published in the Gazette:—

Dublin Castle.

Her Majesty having been pleased to approve of a rule of precedence applicable to the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Ireland, all the Prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland are to have precedence as hereafter set forth : We do hereby order and direct that all Archbishops of the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Ireland and all Roman Catholic Archbishops in Ireland are to have in Ireland the precedence which belonged to Archbishops of the Established Church of Ireland before the passing of the Irish Church Act, 1869, and are to take rank inter se according to the dates of consecration as Archbishop or translation as the case may be, the Primates of both Churches having prior precedence amongst such Archbishops of the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Ireland ; and all Roman Catholic Bishops in Ireland ate to have in Ireland the precedence which belonged to Bishops of the Established Church of Ireland before the passing of the Irish Church Act, 1869, and to take rank inter se, according to the dates of consecration. And we also declare that the foregoing rules are not in any way to interfere with the rights of precedence secured to the Archbishop and Bishops of the late Established Church of Ireland by the 13th section of the said Act

Spencer

Church of Ireland

Declaration to his late Majesty King William the Fourth, 1834

We the undersigned Archbishops, Bishops, and Clergy of the Irish Branch of the United Church of England and Ireland

PREAMBLE AND DECLARATION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL CONVENTION IN THE YEAR 1870

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen: Whereas it hath been determined by the Legislature that on and after the 1st day of January, 1871, the Church of Ireland shall cease to be established by law; and that the ecclesiastical law of Ireland shall cease to exist as law save as provided in the “Irish Church Act, 1869”, and it hath thus become necessary that the Church of Ireland should provide for its own regulation:

We, the archbishops and bishops of this the Ancient Catholic and Apostolic Church of Ireland, together with the representatives of the clergy and laity of the same, in General Convention assembled in Dublin in the year of our Lord God one thousand eight hundred and seventy, before entering on this work, do solemnly declare as follows:

I 1. The Church of Ireland doth, as heretofore, accept and unfeignedly believe all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as given by inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary to salvation; and doth continue to profess the faith of Christ as professed by the Primitive Church.

2. The Church of Ireland will continue to minister the doctrine, and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded; and will maintain inviolate the three orders of bishops, priests or presbyters, and deacons in the sacred ministry.

3. The Church of Ireland, as a reformed and Protestant Church, doth hereby reaffirm its constant witness against all those innovations in doctrine and worship, whereby the Primitive Faith hath been from time to time defaced or overlaid, and which at the Reformation this Church did disown and reject.

II The Church of Ireland doth receive and approve The Book of the Articles of Religion, commonly called the Thirty–nine Articles, received and approved by the archbishops and bishops and the rest of the clergy of Ireland in the synod holden in Dublin, A.D. 1634; also, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of Ireland; and the Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, as approved and adopted by the synod holden in Dublin, A.D. 1662, and hitherto in use in this Church. And this Church will continue to use the same, subject to such alterations only as may be made therein from time to time by the lawful authority of the Church.

III The Church of Ireland will maintain communion with the sister Church of England, and with all other Christian Churches agreeing in the principles of this Declaration; and will set forward, so far as in it lieth, quietness, peace, and love, among all christian people.

IV The Church of Ireland, deriving its authority from Christ, Who is the Head over all things to the Church, doth declare that a General Synod of the Church of Ireland, consisting of the archbishops and bishops, and of representatives of the clergy and laity, shall have chief legislative power therein, and such administrative power as may be necessary for the Church, and consistent with its episcopal constitution.

1871 Legal Committee report as to the name of the Church of Ireland

presented and adopted as reported in The Irish Times (26 January 1871, p.13) and Church of England Year-Book 1887:

The Church of Ireland is entitled to, and is bound to use the name of The Church or Ireland, and is not entitled to assume or to use, and ought not to accept the name of The Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland, or any other name than The Church or Ireland. The Church of Ireland, which the Registrar-General of Marriages has presumed to designate as The Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland, has been, ever since the Reformation, the only Church or Ireland, as well in fact as in law. The Roman Catholic Church has never been the "Church of Ireland." It has been the Church of a foreign State to wit, Rome and has assumed to be The Catholic Church. All other bodies of professing Christians in Ireland have been congregational churches or institutions in Ireland, and have neither been, nor desired to be, "Churches of Ireland." The name Church or Ireland is the name uniformly given by the Irish and Imperial Legislatures to the Church of Ireland; See 28 Henry VIII. c.5; 17 & 18 Car.II. c.6; 6 Geo.I. c.3; 14 & 15 Vict. c.72; the Act of Union; the Irish Church Act 1869, ss. 1, 2, 69; 38 Vict. c.11, preamble & s. 3; 38 & 39 Vict c. 59, s. 4; and 47 Vict. c. 10. Neither the Legislature nor any other lawful authority has given to, or assumed to impose on, the Church of Ireland any new name. On the contrary, the name The Church or Ireland, both by recital and by the repeated use of the words "the said Church," is incorporated into the new Marriage Act, 33 and 34 Vict., c. 110. The words "Protestant Episcopalian," which occur in this Act, are not used for the nomenclature of members of the Church of Ireland, but as a comprehensive term, proper to include members of all other Protestant Episcopal Churches, as well as The Church or Ireland, which is one of the numerous Protestant Episcopal Churches. That this is so is obvious from the interpretation clause, which explains that the term * Protestant Episcopalian' shall mean a member (1) of the said Church (i.e. the Church of Ireland) ; (2) of the Episcopal Church of Scotland; (3) of any other Episcopal Church. The generic name was requisite because otherwise a marriage could not have been celebrated in Ireland by the Clergymen of either the English or Scotch Church, or between persons one of whom was a member of either the English or Scotch Church. The same observation applies to the expression when used in the second Marriage Act, 84 & 85 Vict. c. 49, s. 26. On the other hand, in the first Act, the various religious bodies of nonconformists connected with Ireland are mentioned under the various names adopted by themselves. The Church or Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church are the only ecclesiastical institutions in Ireland which comprehend Ireland; these do include within their functions all Ireland divided into parishes. The Roman Catholic Church claims for itself hie el uMoue the name of The Catholic Church and disdains limits of country and place; and, indeed, could not without inconsistency assume the name of The Church or Ireland.

1899 Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette becomes The Church of Ireland Gazette

Ever since the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette passed into the hands of the Church of Ireland Printing and Publishing Company the subject of Change of Title has been more or less under discussion. ...[the Directors wished] for a name to connect the paper and its work more closely together. Their choice was virtually limited to one of two alternatives. Either the new title should be Irish Church Gazette or Church of Ireland Gazette; and the latter was chosen not only because it is the title which has been preserved to our Church by Act of Parliament, but because it more [sic] expresses more nearly than any other title our historical and theological position in the land.

1921 The Church of Ireland Gazette editorial

not only is the designation offensive, but it is too wide to be accurate. Members of the Moravian Church in Ireland are Protestant Episcopalians; but they are entirely disctint from us. The large Wesleyan Community which is known as the Methodist Episcopal Church is also Protestant Episcopalian; but as their bishops are not in the historic succession, they are not in communion with us. In short, the designation ... is offensive, clumsy and inadequate.

Members

1911 John Henry Bernard

The ancient Church of Ireland (described in the Irish Church Act 1869 by this its historic title) [...]

The episcopal 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 case they were followed by a line of lawful successors, leading down to the present occupants of the several sees. The rival lines of Roman Catholic titulars are not in direct succession to the Marian bishops, and cannot be regarded as continuous with the medieval Church. The question of the continuity of the pre-Reformation Church with the Church of the Celtic period before the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland is more difficult. Ten out of eleven archbishops of Armagh who held office between 1272 and 1439 were consecrated outside Ireland, and there is no 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.

1921 census objection to "Protestant Episcopalian"

• Frederick William O’Connell: Other religious bodies are permitted to describe themselves by their self-chosen title. Presbyterians are not obliged to attach themselves to the category of "Non-Episcopal Calvinists" ... the Bank of Ireland does not claim to be the only bank in Ireland, nor yet to be the best bank in Ireland, nor yet to be the only bank in Ireland which any self-respecting Irishman would put his money in, but the other banks ... refrain from tilting at the self-styled Bank of Ireland.
• H.C. Lyster says 'I suppose the Registrar General could use the term "Anglican" if it were preferred' and points out "Church of Ireland" would exclude other Anglicans.
• "Seoirse" makes the same point about foreign Anglicans, suggests "National Catholic" as umbrella, and points out that it is the summaries that use the term, whereas the form has a free-text blank space.

Other churches

November 1886 Irish Christian Advocate (Methodist; quoted by Jeffery in Hurley 1970 p.83)

The right of the Episcopal Church to take exclusively the title 'Church of Ireland' rests on nothing in history, nothing in national adoption, nothing in ecclesiastical constitution, and still further nothing in doctrinal teaching. ... In any sense that is national there never was a Church of Ireland. ... The Church of Ireland bears no Irish stamp. It is the same in doctrine and in polity as the Church of England.

Note that the Welsh Church Act 1914 has an equivalent short title to the Irish Church Act 1869, but the disestablished church is called the "Church in Wales", not the "Church of Wales". The long titles are "An Act to put an end to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland ... " versus "An Act to terminate the establishment of the Church of England in Wales and Monmouthshire ...". Church in Wales § Official name says

The Church in Wales adopted its name by accident. The Welsh Church Act 1914 referred throughout to "the Church in Wales", the phrase being used to indicate the part of the Church of England within Wales. In 1920, a convention of the Welsh church considered what name to select and tended to favour "the Church of Wales". However, there were concerns that adopting a name different from that mentioned in the Act might cause legal problems. Given the situation, it seemed sensible to adopt the title "the Church in Wales".[citation needed]

1929 Thomas Gilmartin, the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, hoped that

they would hear no more about the laughable claims of the so-called Church of Ireland to be regarded as the descendants of the Church of St Patrick.

Secondary

1969:

• ["Anglican-Presbyterian relations"; John M. Barkley]
  • p.66-67 : a 1910 memorial presented by the Synod of Dublin to the Presbyterian General Assembly, prompted the latter to pass a resolution to set up a committee for ecumenical work. Both memorial and resolution referred not to the "Church of Ireland" but to either the "Protestant Episcopal Church" or the "Anglican Church"; "a fact which shows that two centuries of bitterness do not die easily".
• ["Anglican-Methodist relations"; Frederick Jeffery]
  • p.80 : As early as June 1870 we find the Irish Evangelist objecting to the title 'Church of Ireland'.
  • p.79-81: formerly "Connexion" and "Chapel", after 1870 more often "Church" for both
  • p.81: 1870 and 1871 minutes of Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Convention refer to "the Irish Church" and "the Wesleyan Church"
  • p.83: "the very title 'Church of Ireland' caused much heart-searching amopng Methodists as well as among Presbyterians"

1996:

Obscurantist and antiquarian claims to be 'the Old Catholic Church of Ireland' cut no ice with an avowedly utilitarian generation

Elliott 2004:

At times too the very names adopted by members of Ireland's Established Church underscored its sometimes ambivalent place in the nation. Unlike Presbyterians, there was considerable variety over the centuries in how Church of Ireland people referred to themselves. The self-identification as 'Protestant' was more common in times when fears of 'popery' or English reformism were high. 'Church of Ireland', 'Church of England' [?recte 'Irish Church'? — see next sentence], were terms used interchangeably in Ireland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at least by the higher clergy. 'Anglican' comes into use in the period between the Union and disestablishment, as does 'Church of England', though Bishop Alexander cannot have been alone in recalling his childhood puzzlement at the use of such to describe the Irish Church.

Of the spiritual entity called the Church of England I had some confused idea even then, because in those simple days of the established Church of Ireland, most of us learned to call ourselves members of the Church of England a confusion which we have unlearned, some of us with sinking hearts and bitter tears.

Given this long-standing hesitation to call themselves 'Anglican', and preference for the name 'Church of Ireland', the absence of a suitable adjectival religious identity continues to create confusion (at least among non-members of the Church of Ireland). As for the old chestnut of which Church could claim to be truly Irish, it is perhaps time for more humility all round as this also impacts on the desirability of moving away from the exclusive association of Irishness with Catholicism.

1871 The book of common prayer in Ireland

John Ribton Garstin (Dublin : Hodges, Foster) The book of common prayer in Ireland : its original and history; with an attempt to prove that the disestablishment of the church has not rentered any alteration in its necessary. "Désignation of the Church." [pp.20-22]

[I]n the title-page of the modern editions, the Book is described as that of the “ United Church of England and Ireland.”

Now, as has been already noticed, the MS. Book in the Record Office has not any title, and, apparently, never had. I have not, therefore, to encounter Messrs. Stephens and Stopford, or other champions (if such there be) of the Rolls Manuscript. However, in the Act of Uniformity the title of the now missing book is cited in full, as “The Book of Common Prayer,” &c., “According to the Use of the Church of Ireland;” and with this the Dublin quarto of 1666 agrees.

Dr. Stephens, indeed, in his introduction alleges as an extraordinary fact that no “Prayer-Book belonging to the Church of Ireland is recognised by the Irish Statute of Uniformity,” and that the only Book of Common Prayer that is recognised is that of the Church of England. It is true (he says) that in all the editions of the statutes it is stated to be the Book of Common Prayer according to the use of the Church of Ireland; but that from his recent examination of the MS. in the Rolls Office “it appears that the printed statutes of the realm have given a false representation of that record.” The “false representation,” however, is the learned gentleman’s own ; and it is important just now to call attention to the correction of it, which appeared in the concluding volume of his series, but without comment from him. His blunder arose, as already noticed, from his having mistaken the transmiss of the first Bill of Uniformity for the statute as subsequently enacted.

It appears from the Journals of the House of Commons, that when the Bill was first laid before that House it proposed simply to legalize in Ireland the Book of Common Prayer, &c., according to the use of the Church of England. But in consequence of a recommendation from a Committee of the House (all of them, of course, laymen), to whom it was referred, this was altered in the second Bill, which became law, and the designation, “The Church of Ireland,” was substituted, even more frequently than was asked. This title was used in the Irish printed copies, down to the passing of the Act of Union, on the 1st of August, 1800.

By the 5th Article of that Act the Civil power determined that the Churches of England and Ireland should be "united into one Protestant Episcopal Church, to be called 'The United Church of England and Ireland ;' and that the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the said United Church shall be, and shall remain, in full force for ever, as the same are now by law established for the Church of England." This enactment was intended to make the two Churches one and indivisible. They had been, and continued, united only in the sense of agreement; and, though elaborate arguments to the contrary have been adduced, especially by Dr. Jebb, Bishop of Limerick, and his nephew, Canon Jebb (with whom I had lately the opportunity of speaking on this topic), it appears that there never was a legal union amounting to identity. Indeed it was not in the power of the two Parliaments together to fuse the two Churches into one—especially without the assent of either of those Churches. So far back as October 1844, this view was put forward in the English Review. In a sermon by the Hon. and Rev. W . C. Plunket, entitled "The Church of Ireland a National Church," that gentleman, going to the opposite extreme, lays down that the Irish Church Act not only severed the parliamentary union of 1801, but also dissolved the ecclesiastical compact made at the Synod of Cashel in 1172. But the canon of 1634, touching the agreement of the churches, which he does not notice, cannot be repealed by any Act of Parliament. It would take too much time to adduce proofs of the continued individuality of the two agreeing Churches; and I shall only here remark that those who maintain the contrary should be prepared to repel the taunt that their Church is the creation of an Act of Parliament.

At the time of the Union, a Royal Order in Council was issued (dated at St. James’s, Jan. 1, 1801 : see Prayer-Book with notes, p. clxxxviii.), under which the Act of Parliament title, United Church of Great Britain and Ireland,” was everywhere substituted for the old title throughout the Prayer-Book. This order professes to be based on a provision of the Act of Uniformity That in all those Prayers, Litanies, and Collects, which do anywise relate to the King, Queen, or Royal Progeny, the Names be altered and changed from Time to Time, and fitted to the present Occasion, according to the Direction of lawful Authority.” So that the Church must have passed muster as being part of the Royal Progeny, to bring it within the scope of the proviso as to change of name in the Act! Speaking of the substitution of the word “dominions” for "kingdoms," effected by the same order, Dr. Stephens says "it is very questionable whether that substitution was authorized by the Act." The conclusion from the foregoing, as applied to the change in the title of our Book, from that of the Church of Ireland to that of the United Church (which the King’s Printers and the University Printers took upon themselves to introduce in deference to the Order in Council), is, that this change was made without sufficient authority and irrespective of Ecclesiastical sanction; and, at all events, that it may be now disregarded, and the designation used down to 1800 reverted to, without any Royal or other warrant being required. In the foregoing I have treated the question on legal and ecclesiastical grounds only; and have purposely abstained from expressing any opinion as to what would be the most historically accurate, or politically desirable designation for the Disestablished Church.

It may be worth noting, however, with regard to the title of the Church, that in the "Form for receiving lapsed Protestants," &c., used in the Irish Church, and annexed to the early editions of the 1662 Revision of the Prayer-Book, printed in Dublin, the Articles, &c., are described as of "the Church of England and Ireland,"— the very title long before employed in the Act 1st Edward V I. cap. 1., sec. 7, and which the English Primate deems now correct. On the 20th of May 1661, according to the Irish Lords’ Journals, 1., 236, those Lords of that House, who were "of the communion of the Church of England," were desired to receive the Holy Communion together at Christ Church. Previous to the Union in 1801 the coronation oath pledged the Sovereign to maintain the Church of England as by law established in England and Ireland. The Rev. Dr. Maziere Brady argues ingeniously {State Church, p. 6) that the term "Irish Church" is, and always was, a misnomer. In the Appendix to Eng's Church History of Ireland there is a chapter on this question of title; but it is very inconclusive. The Legal Committee of the Representative Body appointed under the "Irish Church Act," say, in their report on this question, that the Church "which the Registrar-General of Marriages has presumed to designate as the 'Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland,' has been ever since the Reformation the only Church of Ireland, as well in fact as in law." The word "presumed" has been withdrawn in an amended report since published. The Census Commissioners have avoided this vexed question both in their instructions and pattern tables.

1880 Biblical Cyclopedia

The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (James Strong and John McClintock; Haper and Brothers; NY): "Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland" Until 1871 this body formed an integral part of the United Church of England and Ireland. It is still called by a majority of its members the Church of Ireland. Its official title is "The Irish Church."

1904

Another aspect of its 'national church' heritage was its name. The Church of Ireland continued to carry that title, even after disestablishment, and despite attempts - particularly by Presbyterians - to call it the 'Episcopal Church'. For Irish Anglicans, it was more than just a name. 'We claim', said J.H. Bernard (later Archbishop of Dublin) in 1904, 'to be the representatives of the ancient church of our country; we have good historical proofs in support of our claim; our claim to the title "Church of Ireland" has been recognised by the law; we have maintained through good and ill report, our witness for the catholic Faith, against Protestant dissent on the one hand and against Roman novelties of belief and practice on the other.'13

That is a succinct summary of the 'high church' aspect of Irish Anglicanism, with its emphasis on the unbroken historic episcopate. Its claim to the title 'Church of Ireland' continued for some time to have 'the same effect on a certain class of Presbyterian minister that a red rag has on a bull'.14

But despite the scoffing - St John Ervine called the title 'the comical description given to themselves by the Episcopalians'15 - the Church of Ireland continued, and continues to call itself and to be called by a name which still seems to suggest a national church

1937 const

• John Charles McQuaid opposed name "Church of Ireland" in text.
• Vatican preferred "Christian Bodies" to "Christian Churches", but acquiesced without endorsing the latter.
• De Valera credited John Gregg, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, with the idea that the Constitution should refer to each church by the name it used itself.
• Cardinal Joseph MacRory objected but de Valera did not change it.
• The Origins of the Irish Constitution, 1928–1941 documents:
  • No. 185: Michael G. Dowling, Assistant Registrar General in the General Register Office "The difficulty of correctly naming this denomination has always been felt in this office". Takes my view re 1869 act [ie contradictory to impose/bestow name while severing legal connection] but draws faulty support from later Marriage Acts which avoid 'C of I'.
  • No. 199: Edward Cahill PS "I presume you know [use of 'C of I'] has aroused no end of criticism and surprise; for it really seems to be an authoritative approval for a piece of lying propaganda. I hope that it will be changed"
  • No. 209: secretary of CofI representative body, directed by Abp of Dublin, quotes 1885 law officers' opinion
• Gregg's formula used by Dev; "although the use of that was to cause difficulties later, de Valera refused to be moved by his Catholic friends on the radical right".

References

• Megahey, A. (2000-08-17). The Irish Protestant Churches in the Twentieth Century. Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/9780230288515. ISBN 9780230288515. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
• Elliott, Marianne (2009-09-24). "The Church of Ireland as Establishment". When God Took Sides: Religion and Identity in Ireland - Unfinished History. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191664267. Retrieved 3 January 2017.

To review

• ISBN 978-1-84682-637-5
• Church of Ireland Gazette archives
• Report of Her Majesty's Commission on the revenues and conditions of the Established Church. Dublin: Alexander Thom for HMSO. 1868. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
• Journal of the General Convention of the Church of Ireland, 1870