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Armagh, Ireland, Archdiocese of

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

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Primatial see of Ireland. Comprises Louth, most of Armagh and parts of Tyrone, Derry and Meath Saint Patrick built a stone church on Ard-Macha (Hill of Macha, a legendary queen), and made it his see in 445; he held a synod here in 448, one of the still-extant canons of which states that cases of conscience, if too difficult to be disposed of by the Archbishop of Armagh, should be referred to the See of Rome. King Brian Boru captured the city, 1004, but acknowledged its primacy; he was buried here. The 12th-century cathedral, on the site of the church built by Saint Patrick, has been in Protestant hands since the Reformation. The last historical mention of the Culdees is at Armagh in 1633, when they were incorporated in the Catholic cathedral chapter by Primate Hugh O'Reilly; to this day, their estates belong to the "vicars choral" of the Protestant cathedral. Notable bishops and archbishops include

• Saint Malachy O'Morgair, patron saint of the diocese (1134-1137)
• Saint Gelasius (1138 to 1174)
• Robert Wauchope (1539-1551), who introduced the Jesuits into Ireland and assisted at the Council of Trent
• Peter Lombard (1601-1625)
• Hugh O'Reilly (1628-1653), who took part in the Confederation of Kilkenny, and became generalissimo of the Catholic forces
• Saint Oliver Plunket (1669-1681), martyr
• Hugh MacMahon (1714-1737), who in the penal times, said Mass and administered Confirmation in the open air
• Patrick Curtis (1819-1832), who advanced the cause of Catholic Emancipation
• William Crolly (1835-1849), who began the new cathedral
• Paul Cullen (1849-1852), who became Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland, and was created cardinal
• Michael Logue (1887-1924), first Cardinal-Primate of Armagh, who completed the cathedral, which was consecrated July 24, 1904

Suffragan dioceses include

• Ardagh
• Clogher
• Derry
• Down and Connor
• Dromore
• Kilmore
• Meath
• Raphoe

See also:

• Catholic-Hierarchy.Org
• Archdiocese of Armagh
• patron saints index