The Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge (APCK) is an

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

-based Christian charity founded in 1792 as The Association for the Discountenancing of Vice (ADV). It has worked for over 200 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in Ireland and across the world. It is linked to the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

but independent from it.

Origins

The ''Association for the Discountenancing of Vice and Promoting the Knowledge and Practice of Religion and Virtue, to Combat Infidelity and Immorality'' was founded in October 1792, at 7

Capel Street Capel Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. On 20 May 2022, it was made traffic-free, following a campaign by people who wanted to improve the quality of life on the street. It is now the longest traffic-free street in Dublin. History Capel ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, by William Watson (bookseller), Reverend Dr George O’Connor, and Reverend Singleton Harpur. It was founded as a publisher/distributor of

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

s and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

tracts in Ireland. It was founded in response to the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

of 1789, the distribution of the two parts of

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

's " Rights of Man", and the formation of the

Society of United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

Cheap Repository Tracts

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a s ...

was invited to become an honorary member of the ADV in 1793 and in 1795 she invited the society to reprint her Cheap Repository titles. The ADV published ten tracts, adapted to the Irish conditions in 1795, but thereafter these were published commercially by William Watson 'at the recommendation of the Association' which continued to assist in their distribution until the early 1830s.

Incorporation

The Society was incorporated in 1801, later becoming the Association for Discountenancing Vice and Promoting the Knowledge and Practice of the Christian Religion, and during the early 19th century became involved with administering government funds supporting schools for poor children. However, following the introduction of a standardized system of primary education in Ireland in the 1830s, the ADV lost its government grants and reverted to being an evangelical publisher. After 1832 the ADV continued to publish psalm books, editions of the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'', church hymnals, and a scripture text book, from their book depository at 37

Dawson Street Dawson Street (; ) is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House. Location Dawson Stre ...

in Dublin.The ADV also maintained a book store at 86

Abbey Street Abbey Street () is located on Dublin's Northside, running from the Customs House and Store Street in the east to Capel Street in the west. The street is served by two Luas light rail stops, one at the Jervis shopping centre and the other near ...

Middle in Dublin which was burned down during the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

of 1916; they later received £952 in government compensation.

Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge

During the 1920s the ADV changed its name to the Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The 1800 act of incorporation of the ADV was accidentally repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 2007 The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. ...

, but it was reinstated by the Statute Law Revision Act 2016.Stoker, (2020) 370

Notes

Church of England missionary societies Anglicanism Bible societies Organizations established in 1792 Religious organizations established in 1792 Educational book publishing companies Christian publishing companies Christian literature Christian organizations established in the 18th century 1792 establishments in Ireland {{Anglican-stub