ThePrimacy of Ireland belongs to thediocesan bishop of theIrish diocese with highestprecedence. TheArchbishop of Armagh is titledPrimate of All Ireland and theArchbishop of DublinPrimate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior clerics on the island of Ireland, the Primate of All Ireland being the more senior. The titles are used by both theCatholic Church in Ireland andChurch of Ireland.
Primate is atitle of honour, and in theMiddle Ages there was an intense rivalry between Armagh and Dublin as to seniority. The Archbishop of Armagh's leading status is based on the belief that hissee was founded bySt. Patrick, makingArmagh theecclesiastical capital of Ireland. On the other hand,Dublin is the political, cultural, social, economic and secular centre of Ireland, and has been for many centuries, thus making the Archbishop of Dublin someone of considerable influence, with a high national profile. The dispute between the twoarchbishoprics was settled byPope Innocent VI in 1353, with occasional brief controversy since. The distinction mirrors that in theChurch of England between the Primate of All England, theArchbishop of Canterbury, and the Primate of England, theArchbishop of York.[1]
Theepiscopal see of Dublin was created in the eleventh century, whenDublin was aNorsecity state. Its first bishop,Dúnán (or Donatus), was described at his death as "chief bishop of the Foreigners".[2] From the first, Dublin had close ties to thesee of Canterbury.[3] The fifth bishop of Dublin,Gregory, was only asubdeacon when he was elected bishop by whatAubrey Gwynn called "the Norse party in the city". He was sent to England where he was consecrated byArchbishop Ralph of Canterbury, but on his return, he was prevented from entering his see by those who wanted Dublin integrated with the Irish hierarchy. A compromise was reached by which Gregory was recognised as bishop of Dublin, while he in turn accepted the authority ofCellach, archbishop of Armagh, as primate.[4] In 1152, theSynod of Kells divided Ireland between the four archdioceses of Armagh, Dublin,Cashel andTuam. Gregory was appointed archbishop of Dublin. Thepapal legate, CardinalJohn Paparo, also appointed the archbishop of Armagh "as Primate over the other bishops, as was fitting."[5]
Henry de Loundres, archbishop of Dublin from 1213 to 1228, obtained abull fromPope Honorius III prohibiting any archbishop from having the cross carried before him (a symbol of authority) in the archdiocese of Dublin without the consent of the archbishop of Dublin.[6] A century later, this bull led to a confrontation betweenRichard FitzRalph, archbishop of Armagh, andAlexander de Bicknor, archbishop of Dublin, when FitzRalph, acting on letters ofKing Edward III specifically allowing him to do so, entered Dublin in 1349 "with the cross erect before him". He was opposed by the prior of Kilmainham on the instructions of Bicknor, and forced to withdraw to Drogheda. On Bicknor's death, and the succession ofJohn de St Paul to the see of Dublin, King Edward revoked his letters to FitzRalph and forbade the primate to exercise his jurisdiction in Dublin.[7] In 1353 the matter was referred toAvignon. There Pope Innocent VI, acting on the advice of theCollege of Cardinals, ruled that "each of these prelates should be Primate; while, for the distinction of style, the Primate of Armagh should entitle himselfPrimate of All Ireland, but the Metropolitan of Dublin should subscribe himselfPrimate of Ireland."[8]
On 20 October 1551, the ProtestantEdward VI and thePrivy Council of England transferred the Anglican primacy fromGeorge Dowdall of Armagh toGeorge Browne of Dublin,[9] as the former opposed theReformation in Ireland, which the latter advanced by introducing the1549 Prayer Book and destroying theBachal Isu, both aCatholic relic and a symbol of Armagh's primacy. The CatholicMary I on 12 October 1553, shortly after succeeding Edward, restored Dowdall and Armagh to primacy.[10] In the 1630s,Lancelot Bulkeley of Dublin argued that Protestant Edward's decree ought to be accepted and Catholic Mary's annulled, but in 1634 theLord Deputy of Ireland,Thomas Wentworth, felt that without stronger evidence the primacy should remain with Armagh.[11] TheChurch Temporalities Act 1833 reducedTuam andCashel and Emly from archdioceses to dioceses, leaving no archbishops other than the two primates.
In 1672 Roman Catholic archbishopPeter Talbot of Dublin disputed the right ofOliver Plunkett of Armagh to preside at a synod in Dublin; Talbot claimed KingCharles II had given him aCommission.[12] Both wrote tracts supporting their claims,[13] and appealed to the Pope in Rome. WhileJohn D'Alton accepted the assertion that Rome ruled in favour of Armagh,[14]Tomás Ó Fiaich says no ruling was made.[15] There was a further dispute in the 1720s when a Dublin priest, censured by his own archbishop, appealed toHugh MacMahon of Armagh, who reversed the censure.[16] Rome investigated but made no decision.[17] In 1802,John Troy said that, to avoid controversy, neither archbishop exercised jurisdiction outside his own metropolitan province.[18]
In 1852 archbishopPaul Cullen, theapostolic delegate to Ireland, wastranslated from Armagh to Dublin; his successor in Dublin,Edward MacCabe, was in 1882 made the first Irishcardinal in preference to Armagh'sDaniel McGettigan. In 1963Tomás Ó Fiaich andWilliam Conway suggested that the period of Cullen and MacCabe's primacy was the only time during which "the leadership of the Irish Church" was in Dublin rather than Armagh; and the motivation was the necessity of close contact with theDublin Castle administration in the period afterCatholic Emancipation, especially untilthe controversy over control of education was eased by theIntermediate Education (Ireland) Act 1878 andRoyal University (1880).[19]
Since 1885, Irish voting members of theCollege of Cardinals have been archbishops of Armagh rather than Dublin, except whenDesmond Connell was appointed in 2001 ahead ofSeán Brady.[19][20] This was somewhat unexpected, and attributed to Connell's experience in theRoman Curia. The younger Brady was made a cardinal in 2007, by which time Connell had passed the 80-year age limit for voting that applies in the College.[20]