Diocese of Down and Dromore

{{Infobox diocese

| jurisdiction = United Dioceses

| name = Down and Dromore

|coat=Diocese of Down and Dromore arms.svg

| local =

|country = Northern Ireland

| province = Armagh

| parishes = 77

| churches = 111

| members = 64,500

| denomination = Church of Ireland

| bishop = David Alexander McClay,
Bishop of Down and Dromore

| cathedral = 1) Down Cathedral
2) Dromore Cathedral
3) St Anne's Cathedral

| archdeaconries = Down, Dromore

| suffragan =

| archdeacons = The Ven Jim Cheshire
Archdeacon of Down
The Ven Mark Harvey,
Archdeacon of Dromore

| website = [http://www.downanddromore.org/ downanddromore.org]

|latin=|image=|flag=|territory=|metropolitan=|headquarters=Unit 1, 21 Old Channel Road, Belfast, BT3 9DEhttps://www.downanddromore.org/about-us/contact-us|rite=|sui_iuris_church=|established=|founded=|dissolved=|patron=}}

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.

Overview and history

File:C of I Diocese of Down and Dromore.png

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 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

In 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.{{cite book|author=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies|title=The Book of Public Arms|edition=2|pages=240–1, 244–5}}

The arms are blazoned as follows:Genealogical Office, Dublin, Grants and Confirmations of Arms, Vol. Aa, fol. 27.

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

File:Down Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 172263.jpg ]]

File:Dromore Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 67460.jpg ]]

File:Cathedral St. Anne Belfast.jpg ]]

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

Although the united diocese works under a single bishop, currently David McClay, each of the two dioceses within it has its own set of officers.

;Bishops of Down and Connor{{cite book |author=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4= Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology |edition=3rd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1986 |isbn=0-521-56350-X |pages=388–389}}{{cite book |last=Cotton |first=Henry |title=The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland |series= Fasti ecclesiae Hiberniae |volume=3, The Province of Ulster |year=1849 |publisher=Hodges and Smith |location=Dublin |pages=202–218}}

John Charden (1596–1601)
Henry Leslie (1635–1661):s:Leslie, Henry (DNB)
Jeremy Taylor (1661–1667)[http://satucket.com/lectionary/Jeremy_Taylor.htm Jeremy Taylor] at satucket.com
Roger Boyle (1667–1672):s:Boyle, Roger (1617?-1687) (DNB00)
John Ryder (1743–1752)
Richard Mant (1823–1842)

;Bishops of Down, Connor and DromoreFryde, ibid., p. 389.

Richard Mant (1842–1848)
Robert Bent Knox (1849–1886)
William Reeves (1886–1892)
John Baptist Crozier (1907–1911)
Charles Frederick D'Arcy (1911–1919)[http://www.belfastcathedral.org/heritage/deans-of-belfast-since-1904/darcy/ Charles Frederick d'Arcy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212033829/http://www.belfastcathedral.org/heritage/deans-of-belfast-since-1904/darcy/ |date=12 December 2008 }} at belfastcathedral.org
Charles T. P. Grierson (1919–1934)
Charles King Irwin (1942–1944)

;Bishops of Down and DromoreFryde, ibid., p. 389.

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)[http://www.ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=news&newsid=1520 Ordination and consecration of Bishop of Down and Dromore] on 25 April 1997 at ireland.anglican.org
David Alexander McClay (2020–present)

Relation with the Anglican realignment

Former Bishop Harold Miller is a member of GAFCON Ireland, and he attended GAFCON III, held in Jerusalem, on 17–22 June 2018.[https://www.downanddromore.org/news/2018/06/Bishop-Harold-reflects-on-his-experience-of-the-recent-GAFCON-conference#.W3i2o-j7QdV Bishop Harold reflects on his experience of the recent GAFCON conference, Diocese of Down and Dromore Official Website, 25 June 2018] His successor, David McClay, is also a leading member of GAFCON Ireland.[https://www.gafcon.org/news/authentic-anglicanism-and-false-fears Authentic Anglicanism and False Fears, GAFCON Official Website, 28 January 2020]