Dublin, archiepiscopal diocese of

Dublin, archiepiscopal diocese of (archiepiscopal diocese of Áth Cliath). Originally a Norse city-state, Dublin was one of the first regular episcopal sees in Ireland subject to Canterbury. When Lanfranc claimed primacy of all Britain, he included Ireland and consecrated Patrick, monk of Worcester, as bishop of Dublin (1074). There developed a strong link between Dublin and Canterbury, and 12th-cent. bishops were usually monks from the Canterbury province. Though Dublin was not listed by the Council of Raithbressail (1111), it was to be included in the Glendalough diocese under Armagh's primacy. Dublin, soon to be the centre of Henry II's colonial administration, became an archbishopric at the Council of Kells-Mellifont (1152), with five dioceses in the south-east of Ireland. Its link with Canterbury was broken. Anglicization came earliest to Dublin and took root there more deeply than elsewhere, so that all five sees of the Dublin province usually had Anglo-French bishops. The archbishopric itself became a reward for administrative service; absenteeism was the inevitable consequence. In 1238 Dublin unsuccessfully challenged the primatial claims of Armagh. It is still the see of both catholic and Anglican archbishops. In 1838 the Anglican province of Dublin absorbed Cashel and is now one of only two Anglican archbishoprics. Uniquely there are two Anglican cathedrals. St Patrick's, the largest in Ireland, is the national cathedral with an Early English interior and massive north-west tower. It holds Dean Jonathan Swift's tomb; the choir was the chapel of the Order of St Patrick (1783–1868). Christ Church is the cathedral for the Dublin diocese.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall