George Dowdall (1487 – 15 August 1558) was a sixteenth-century Irish cleric, who was twice Archbishop of Armagh. He was born in Drogheda, the son of Edward Dowdall. The

Dowdall Dowdall is an Irish surname. The earliest forms of spelling were: Dowdell, Dowdale and Dowdle. Dowdall was first used as a surname in Yorkshire, certainly by the time of the Norman conquest of England. The Irish Dowdalls came from the valley of Do ...

family came to Ireland from

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded r ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in the thirteenth century and settled in County Louth. Several members of the family became distinguished lawyers and judges. George had at least one brother, Christopher, who married Thomasine Cusack, a member of the prominent Cusack family of Cussington,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

. Christopher was the father of James Dowdall, who became

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

. George entered the Order of the Brethren of the Cross (colloquially known as the Crutched Friars or Crouched Friars due to the crutch-like staffs which they carried) at an early age and became the last Prior of their house at

Ardee Ardee (; , ) is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued deve ...

. He was appointed

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in ...

by Henry VIII in 1543 to succeed

George Cromer George Cromer (died 16 March 1542) was Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in the reign of Henry VIII of England, from 1521/2. He was English by birth, a descendant of the Cromer (also spelt Crowemer) family of Tunstall, Kent and ...

. However, his appointment was not recognised by the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, who had earlier replaced Cromer with Robert Wauchope. Dowdall accepted Henry's position as

Supreme Head The title of Supreme Head of the Church of England was created in 1531 for King Henry VIII when he first began to separate the Church of England from the authority of the Holy See and allegiance to the papacy, then represented by Pope Clement VI ...

on Earth of 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 secon ...

, but like Henry, he took an anti-

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

theological position. This position became unsustainable in the reign of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. Dowdall would not accept the new liturgy, and in 1552 he withdrew to a monastery in

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

, and was replaced by

Hugh Goodacre Hugh Goodacre (died 1 May 1553) was an English Protestant clergyman, who was briefly Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. Life Nothing is known for certain of his family background or his early life. He was vicar of Sh ...

. By this stage, Wauchope had died without being replaced. Dowdall was deprived of his

Primacy Primacy may refer to: * an office of the Primate (bishop) * the supremacy of one bishop or archbishop over others, most notably: ** Primacy of Peter, ecclesiological doctrine on the primacy of Peter the Apostle ** Primacy of the Roman Pontiff, e ...

, but was not formally deposed as Archbishop. With

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

's accession in 1553, and the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in Ireland, Dowall was reappointed to the see of Armagh, this time with the Pope's approval, and he held the position until his death, some three months before Mary's. He was energetic in attempting to undo the effects of 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 ...

, holding two provincial synods at Drogheda to restore the constitution of the pre-Reformation Church. He was particularly zealous in depriving married clergy of their livings, and as a result was accused of taking the opportunity to persecute his personal enemies, such as George Browne, Archbishop of Dublin. He was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

while on official business there. He was noted from an early age for gravity of character and learning, but also for his "high stomach" (pride). Despite his reputation for learning, he left very few published works.DNB p.384

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowdall, George 1487 births 1558 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Armagh 16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Anglican archbishops of Armagh

See also

References

External links