• 23 November 2019

Disestablishment 150: The National Service of Commemoration

The National Service to Commemorate the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland will be held on Saturday 23 November at 3.00 pm in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The Preacher will be the Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. 

The service will be followed by a panel discussion entitled, Second City, 300, 150, Today as part of the annual Jonathan Swift Festival.  

Swift, a fervent defender of the Church of Ireland, but also a fierce critic of the hypocrisy of his age, lived much of his life between London and Dublin: the first and second cities of the British Empire. 

150 years after the Disestablishment of his beloved Church and against the backdrop of Brexit, the panel will consider what he might think the future holds for Ireland and Great Britain, or for Church/State relations. It will discuss these and other important questions of our time. 

Panel members will include the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Mary McAleese and others.