Editing Church of Ireland (section)

===19th to 20th centuries===
[[File:Armagh Cathedral (Church of Ireland).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|[[St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland)|St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh]]]]

Following the legal union of Ireland and the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] by the [[Act of Union 1800]], the Church of Ireland was also united with the Church of England to form the '''United Church of England and Ireland'''. At the same time, one archbishop and three bishops from Ireland (selected by rotation) were given seats in the [[House of Lords]] at Westminster, joining the two archbishops and twenty-four bishops from the Church of England.

The Irish Church was over-staffed, with 22 bishops, including 4 archbishops, for an official membership of 852,000, less than that of the [[Diocese of Durham|Church of England's Diocese of Durham]]. The [[Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833]] ([[3 & 4 Will. 4]]. c. 37) reduced these to 12, as well as making financial changes. Part of a series of reforms by the [[Whig government, 1830–1834|1830–1834 Whig government]] that included the [[Reform Act 1832]], it caused deep political splits. The implications of government legislating church governance was a contributory factor in the [[Oxford Movement]] and had wide repercussions for the Anglican Communion.{{sfn|Condon|1964|pp=120–142}}

Another source of resentment was the funding of the Church by [[tithes]] imposed on all Irish subjects, even though the majority were not members. This led to anomalies like the incumbent of a living near Bessborough, who in 1833 was receiving £1,000 per year, despite the fact the parish had no Protestants or even a church.{{sfn|Pearce|2005|p=119}} The "[[Tithe War]]" of 1831–36 led to their replacement by the ''tithe rent charge'' but they did not entirely disappear until the [[Irish Church Act 1869]].

The Act ended the Church's status as a state organisation; its bishops were removed from the House of Lords and its property transferred to the government. Compensation was paid but in the immediate aftermath, parishes faced great difficulty in local financing after the loss of rent-generating lands and buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crossdenominationalmission.org.uk/churchinireland.html |title=Cross Denominational Mission "The Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869 came into effect in 1871 and the Church of Ireland ceased to be the state church. This terminated both state support and parliamentary authority over its governance, and took into public ownership much church property. Compensation was provided to clergy, but many parishes faced great difficulty after the loss of rent-generating land, property and buildings." |access-date=25 January 2013 |archive-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210234451/http://www.crossdenominationalmission.org.uk/churchinireland.html |url-status=live }}</ref>