Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore
Encyclopedia
The Diocese of Dromore is a Roman Catholic diocese
in Northern Ireland
. It is one of eight suffragan diocese
s which are subject to the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Armagh. The present Bishop
is the Most Reverend John McAreavey
who was enthroned in 1999.
covers portions of counties Down
, Armagh
and Antrim
. The bishop's seat (cathedra
) is located at the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick and St. Colman
in Newry
.
(called also Mocholmóc), probably the first Abbot of Dromore. The first building was a small wattle and daub
church on the northern bank of the River Lagan
. The Diocese of Dromore was established through the reorganisation of the Irish Church in the late 12th century, possibly at the synod held in Dublin in 1192 by the papal legate, Múirges Ua hÉnna, Archbishop of Cashel. The diocese coincided with the territory of the Uí Echach Cobo
, which later became the baronies of Upper and Lower Iveagh, and the lordship of Newry
, County Down.
During the 16th century Reformation
, the Roman Catholic Church lost control of the old cathedral in Dromore
to the Protestant Church of Ireland
, which was wholly destroyed during the rebellion of 1641
and rebuilt twenty years later. In the 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church chose the site of a new cathedral at Newry
, the largest town of County Down, and a place of great historical interest, situated at the head of Carlingford Lough
. Work for building of Newry Cathedral
begun in 1823 and was completed in 1829 by Dr. Michael Blake (bishop of Dromore 1833–1860) who had been Vicar-General of Dublin and the restorer of the Irish College
at Rome. This cathedral was enlarged and beautified by Bishop Henry O'Neill, who succeeded Bishop Thomas MacGivern in 1901.
Under Dr. McGivern's predecessor, Dr. John Pius Leahy, O.P. (1860–1890), a Dominican
priory was founded on the Armagh side of Newry, and a church erected. The Poor Clares, who went to Newry from Harold's Cross, Dublin, in 1830, were for many years the only nuns north of the River Boyne
. The Sisters of Mercy
founded a convent at Newry in 1855.
Abbey Yard in Newry marks the site of the Cistercian abbey founded in the year 1144 by St. Bernard's friend, St. Malachy O'Morgair
, and endowed in 1157 by Maurice O'Loughlin, High King of Ireland
. It is called in the annals Monasterium de Viridi Ligno — a name given to Newry from the yew-tree
, said to have been planted there by St. Patrick, the Irish name being Niubar (and sometimes Newrkintragh, "the yew at the head of the strand") which is Latinized Ivorium or Nevoracum, but more commonly as above Viride Lignum.
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It is one of eight suffragan diocese
Suffragan Diocese
A suffragan diocese is a diocese in the Catholic Church that is overseen not only by its own diocesan bishop but also by a metropolitan bishop. The metropolitan is always an archbishop who governs his own archdiocese...
s which are subject to the Metropolitan
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
Archdiocese of Armagh. The present Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
is the Most Reverend John McAreavey
John McAreavey
John McAreavey is the Bishop of the Diocese of Dromore. He was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland.-Early life and education:...
who was enthroned in 1999.
Geographical remit
The SeeEpiscopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
covers portions of counties Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
and Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
. The bishop's seat (cathedra
Cathedra
A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
) is located at the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick and St. Colman
Newry Cathedral
Newry Cathedral or the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Colman is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Newry, Northern Ireland. It acts as the seat of the Bishop of Dromore, and the head church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore.-History:...
in Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
.
History
The monastery of Dromore is believed to have been founded in the sixth century by St ColmanColman of Dromore
Saint Colmán of Dromore, also known by the pet form Mocholmóc, was a 6th-century Irish saint.He seems to have spent most of his life in that area of County Down. Possibly he studied under Caetan of Nendrom, Co. Down, and was persuaded by Saint Mac Nissi to settle at Dromore c. 514, where he became...
(called also Mocholmóc), probably the first Abbot of Dromore. The first building was a small wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
church on the northern bank of the River Lagan
River Lagan
The River Lagan is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 40 miles from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The River Lagan forms much of the border between County Antrim and County Down. It rises as a tiny fast...
. The Diocese of Dromore was established through the reorganisation of the Irish Church in the late 12th century, possibly at the synod held in Dublin in 1192 by the papal legate, Múirges Ua hÉnna, Archbishop of Cashel. The diocese coincided with the territory of the Uí Echach Cobo
Uí Echach Cobo
Uí Echach Cobo were a branch of the Dál nAraidi in Ulster . They gave their name to the early medieval Kingdom of Coba located in the baronies of Upper and Lower Iveagh in modern County Down...
, which later became the baronies of Upper and Lower Iveagh, and the lordship of Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
, County Down.
During the 16th century Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, the Roman Catholic Church lost control of the old cathedral in Dromore
Dromore, County Down
Dromore is a small market town in the Banbridge District of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is south-west of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast – Dublin road. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 4,968 people....
to the Protestant Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, which was wholly destroyed during the rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
and rebuilt twenty years later. In the 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church chose the site of a new cathedral at Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
, the largest town of County Down, and a place of great historical interest, situated at the head of Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its southern shore is County Louth...
. Work for building of Newry Cathedral
Newry Cathedral
Newry Cathedral or the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Colman is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Newry, Northern Ireland. It acts as the seat of the Bishop of Dromore, and the head church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore.-History:...
begun in 1823 and was completed in 1829 by Dr. Michael Blake (bishop of Dromore 1833–1860) who had been Vicar-General of Dublin and the restorer of the Irish College
Irish College
Irish Colleges is the collective name used for approximately 34 centres of education for Irish Catholic clergy and lay people opened on continental Europe in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The Colleges were set up to educate Roman Catholics from Ireland in their own religion following the...
at Rome. This cathedral was enlarged and beautified by Bishop Henry O'Neill, who succeeded Bishop Thomas MacGivern in 1901.
Under Dr. McGivern's predecessor, Dr. John Pius Leahy, O.P. (1860–1890), a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
priory was founded on the Armagh side of Newry, and a church erected. The Poor Clares, who went to Newry from Harold's Cross, Dublin, in 1830, were for many years the only nuns north of the River Boyne
River Boyne
The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath and Baltray, County Louth. Salmon...
. The Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
founded a convent at Newry in 1855.
Abbey Yard in Newry marks the site of the Cistercian abbey founded in the year 1144 by St. Bernard's friend, St. Malachy O'Morgair
Saint Malachy
Saint Malachy was the Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and a vision of the identity of the last 112 Popes...
, and endowed in 1157 by Maurice O'Loughlin, High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
. It is called in the annals Monasterium de Viridi Ligno — a name given to Newry from the yew-tree
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
, said to have been planted there by St. Patrick, the Irish name being Niubar (and sometimes Newrkintragh, "the yew at the head of the strand") which is Latinized Ivorium or Nevoracum, but more commonly as above Viride Lignum.
Ordinaries
The following is a basic list of the bishops since the beginning of the 19th century.- Edmund Derry (1801–1819)
- Hugh O'Kelly (1820–1825)
- Thomas Kelly (1826–1833)
- Michael Blake (1833–1860)
- John Pius Leahy, O.P.Dominican OrderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
(1860–1890) - Thomas MacGivern (1890–1900)
- Henry O'Neill (1901–1915)
- Edward Mulhern (1916–1943)
- Eugene O'Doherty (1944–1975)
- Francis Gerard BrooksFrancis Gerard BrooksFrancis Gerard Brooks was the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Dromore, Northern Ireland. Born in Rathfriland, County Down, he was ordained a Catholic priest on 19 June 1949 for the Diocese of Dromore....
(1976–1999) - John McAreaveyJohn McAreaveyJohn McAreavey is the Bishop of the Diocese of Dromore. He was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland.-Early life and education:...
(1999–present)