The Archbishop of Armagh is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the city of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

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 ...

. Since 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 have been 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 to the title: one 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 ...

and the other 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 ...

. The archbishop of each denomination also holds the title of

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 t ...

. In the Church of Ireland, the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

John McDowell John Henry McDowell, FBA (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, ...

, who is the ecclesiastical head of the

and the diocesan bishop of the

Diocese of Armagh The Diocese of Armagh is the metropolitan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Armagh, the Church of Ireland province that covers the northern half (approximately) of the island of Ireland. The diocese mainly covers counties Louth, Ty ...

. He was elected as archbishop in March 2020 and translated to the role on 28 April 2020. In the Roman Catholic Church, the archbishop is

Eamon Martin Eamon Martin KC*HS (born 30 October 1961) is a prelate of the Catholic Church from Northern Ireland who has been Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland since 2014. Early life and education Martin was born in Derry, Northern Irela ...

, who is the ecclesiastical head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, metropolitan of the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Armagh and the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Armagh. He succeeded on 8 September 2014, having been ordained Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh on 21 April 2013 at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Armagh.

History

In the medieval Irish church, the earliest bishops doubled as

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

s, with the bishop becoming the junior of the two positions. From the 8th century, if not earlier, the house of Armagh claimed foundation from

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

, and the position of ''comarba Pátraic'' ("successor of Patrick") was held by the abbot of Armagh until the position of abbot and bishop were merged again in the 12th century, with the creation of the archbishopric of Armagh.

History

Early abbots and bishops of Armagh

Later abbots and bishops of Armagh

Abbots of Armagh

Bishops of Armagh

Pre-Reformation archbishops

Archbishops during the Reformation

Post-Reformation archbishops

Church of Ireland succession

Roman Catholic succession

See also

Notes

References