16th Jan – 2nd Apr
Disestablishment Exhibition in Christ Church Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral Dublin until April 2.
The United Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough are currently commemorating the 150th anniversary of Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland. As part of the commemorations, an exhibition is running in the Lady Chapel of Christ Church Cathedral until April 2.
The exhibition, curated by the cathedral’s Precentor Canon Roy Byrne and education officer Ruth Kenny, features historic archives and artefacts which take the viewer on a journey through this period of the Church of Ireland’s history.
In 1869 the Irish Church Act was passed by parliament which disestablished the Church of Ireland. The Act came into effect on January 1 1871. The Church of Ireland had been the state Church until the Irish Church Act came into effect. This meant the Church of Ireland ceased to be united to the Church of England and became self governing and self supporting. The governing body of the Church of Ireland since 1871 has been the General Synod.
The exhibition includes a range of fascinating items including the table on which, according to its plaque, Gladstone and the ministers of the day “plotted the destruction of the Irish Church”. There is also a scroll from the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Norwich in the Church of England expressing their deep regret and sympathy at the Irish Church Act.
