Editing Church of Ireland (section)

===17th century===
[[File:James Ussher by Sir Peter Lely.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[James Ussher]], Archbishop of Armagh]]
{{Main|Nonjuring schism}}
At the beginning of the 17th century, most native Irish were Catholic, with Protestant settlers in [[Plantation of Ulster|Ulster]] establishing an independent Presbyterian church. Largely confined to an English-speaking minority in [[The Pale]], the most important figure of the Church's development was Dublin-born theologian and historian, [[James Ussher]], Archbishop of Armagh from 1625 to 1656. In 1615, the Church of Ireland drew up its own [[Irish Articles of Religion|confession of faith]], similar to the English version, but more detailed, less ambiguous and often explicitly Calvinist.{{sfn|Wallace|1949 |pp=1–15}} When the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] were formally adopted by the Irish church in 1634, Ussher ensured they were in addition to the Irish Articles; however, they were soon superseded by the Thirty Nine Articles, which remain in use to the present day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1.ix.vi.x.html |title=Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. {{!}} Christian Classics Ethereal Library<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=14 September 2006 |archive-date=22 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922231925/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1.ix.vi.x.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], the Church of Ireland claimed to be the original and universal church, while the Papacy was an innovation, thus vesting it with the supremacy of [[Apostolic succession]].{{sfn|Richardson|2000|p=55}} This argument was supported by Ussher, and Charles' former personal chaplain, [[John Leslie (bishop of Raphoe)|John Leslie]], a key supporter of Caroline reforms in Scotland, appointed bishop of [[Diocese of Derry and Raphoe|Derry & Raphoe]] in 1633.{{sfn|Diamond|2009}} During the 1641–1653 [[Irish Confederate Wars]], nearly two-thirds of Ireland was controlled by the largely Catholic [[Confederate Ireland|Confederacy]], and in 1644, [[Giovanni Battista Rinuccini]] became [[Papal Nuncio]] to Ireland. Irish Catholicism had developed greater tolerance for Protestants, while sharing their hostility to elaborate ritual. Rinuccini's insistence on following Roman liturgy, and attempts to re-introduce ceremonies such as [[Maundy (foot washing)|foot washing]] divided the Confederacy, and contributed to its rapid collapse in the 1649–1652 [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwell's re-conquest of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Yates |first=Nigel |title=Catholic Reformation in Ireland: The Mission of Rinuccini 1645–1649 |url=https://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/catholic-reformation-in-ireland-the-mission-of-rinuccini-1645-1649/ |website=History Ireland |access-date=12 September 2018 |date=24 February 2013 |archive-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912210142/https://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/catholic-reformation-in-ireland-the-mission-of-rinuccini-1645-1649/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:AcquittalSevenBishops.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|The [[Seven Bishops]] acquitted, June 1688; a key factor in the removal of [[James II of England|James]], five later became [[Nonjuring schism|Non-Jurors]]]]

The church was re-established after the 1660 [[Restoration (Ireland)|Restoration of Charles II]] and in January 1661, meetings by 'Papists, Presbyterians, Independents or separatists' were made illegal.{{sfn|Harris|2006|p=88}} In practice, the penal laws were loosely enforced and after 1666, Protestant [[Dissenter]]s and Catholics were allowed to resume their seats in the [[Parliament of Ireland]]. In 1685, the Catholic [[James II of England|James II]] became king with considerable backing in all three kingdoms; this changed when his policies seemed to go beyond tolerance for Catholicism and into an attack on the established church. His prosecution of the [[Seven Bishops]] in England for seditious libel in June 1688 destroyed his support base, while many felt James lost his right to govern by ignoring his [[Coronation Oath Act 1688|coronation Oath]] to maintain the primacy of the Protestant religion.{{sfn|Harris|2007|pp=179–181}}

This made oaths a high-profile issue, since ministers of the [[State religion|national]] churches of England, Scotland and Ireland were required to swear allegiance to the ruling monarch. When the 1688 [[Glorious Revolution]] replaced James with his Protestant daughter and son-in-law, [[Mary II of England|Mary II]] and [[William III of England|William III]], a minority felt bound by their previous oath and refused to swear another. This led to the [[Nonjuring schism|Non-Juring schism]], although for the vast majority, this was a matter of personal conscience, rather than political support for James.{{sfn|Overton|2018|p=14}}

The Irish church was less affected by this controversy, although the [[William Sheridan (Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh)|Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh]] became a Non-Juror, as did a handful of the clergy, including [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] propagandist [[Charles Leslie (nonjuror)|Charles Leslie]].{{sfn|Higgins|2014|p=78}} The [[Protestant Ascendancy]] in Ireland is traditionally viewed as beginning in 1691 when the [[Treaty of Limerick]] ended the [[Williamite War in Ireland|1689–1691 Williamite War]]. The Church re-established control and the 1697 [[Banishment Act]] expelled Catholic bishops and [[regular clergy]] from Ireland, leaving only the so-called [[secular clergy]].{{sfn|Simms|1970|pp=185–186}}