Church of Ireland
| Church of Ireland Eaglais na hÉireann Kirk o Airlann |
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| Founder | Claims episcopal succession from Saint Patrick. Established as a state church in 1536 under King Henry VIII of England. Disestablished in 1871 under Queen Victoria. |
| Independence | 1871 (disestablishment) |
| Primate |
Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Headquarters | Church of Ireland House Church Avenue, Rathmines Dublin 6 D06 CF67 Republic of Ireland |
| Territory | Ireland |
| Language | English, Irish |
| Members | 410,000 members |
| Website | ireland.anglican.org |
The Church of Ireland (Irish: Eaglais na hÉireann; 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-largest Christian church on the island after the Roman Catholic Church. Like other Anglican churches, it has retained elements of pre-Reformation practice, notably its episcopal polity, while rejecting the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. Nevertheless, in theological and liturgical matters, it incorporates many principles of the Reformation, particularly those espoused during the English Reformation. The church self identifies as being both Catholic and Reformed. Within the church, differences exist between those members who are more Catholic-leaning (high church) and those who are more Protestant-leaning (low church or evangelical). For historical and cultural reasons, the Church of Ireland is generally identified as a Protestant church. The Church of Ireland is the second-largest in the Republic of Ireland, with around 130,000 members, and the third-largest in Northern Ireland, with around 260,000 members.
The Church of Ireland describes itself as
that part of the Irish Church which was influenced by the Reformation, and has its origins in the early Celtic Church of St Patrick.
The Church of Ireland considers itself Catholic because it is in possession of a continuous tradition of faith and practice, based on scripture and early traditions, enshrined in the Catholic creeds, together with the sacraments and apostolic ministry. However, the Church of Ireland is also Protestant, or Reformed, since it opposes doctrines and ways of worshiping that it considers contrary to scripture and which led to the Reformation.
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Wikipedia