The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in 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 ...

it has been united with other bishoprics.

History

The monastery of Dromore is believed to have been founded by St Colman, first bishop or abbot of Dromore, sometime between 497 and 513. The first building was a small

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, 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 a ...

church on the northern bank of the River Lagan. Only a couple of the names of the monastic-bishops survive. Mael-Brigid Mac Cathasaigh, bishop and abbot of Dromore, died in 972, and in the

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

record the death of Riagán, bishop of Druim Mór, in 1101. 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 Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now County Down, Northern Ireland. Originally it was a Gaelic Irish territory, ruled by the ''Uí Echach Cobo'' and part of the overkingdom of Ulaid. From the 12th c ...

, which later became the baronies of Upper and Lower Iveagh, and the lordship of Newry, County Down. Following the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, there were parallel

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

s. In the

, the bishopric continued until it became part of the united bishopric of Down, Connor and Dromore in 1842. In 1945, Connor was separated leaving the current bishopric of Down and Dromore. In the

, the bishopric of Dromore continues as a separate title. The most recent Incumbent was the Most Reverend

John McAreavey John McAreavey (born 2 February 1949 in Banbridge, County Down) was the Catholic Bishop of Dromore from 1999 to 2018. Early life and education John McAreavey was born at Drumnagally, Banbridge in 1949. He was the son John and Mary McAreavey ( ...

, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore The Diocese of Dromore is a Roman Catholic diocese in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses which are subject to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Armagh.appointed by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

on 4 June 1999 and was ordained bishop on 19 September 1999. He resigned on 1 March 2018, effective 26 March 2018.

List of bishops

Pre-Reformation bishops

Post-Reformation Church of Ireland bishops

Post-Reformation Roman Catholic bishops

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dromore Dr Dro Religion in County Down Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore