Michael Jones and the survival of the Church of Ireland, 1647–9

Abstract

AbstractThe marquess of Ormond's surrender of Dublin to the forces of the English parliament in the summer of 1647 has been seen as marking the demise of the Church of Ireland, with ministers given the choice of adopting the Presbyterian Directory for Public Worship or fleeing the country. This article examines the survival of the church thanks to the benign influence of the governor of Dublin, Colonel Michael Jones, and his brother, Dr Henry Jones, bishop of Clogher. Under Michael Jones's rule the Book of Common Prayer continued to be used, ministers were appointed to vacancies, and clerical networks continued to operate. It was only after the Cromwellian invasion in August 1649, and the replacement of Jones by the Cromwellian hard-liner, Colonel John Hewson, that the church was forced out of business – a process completed with its formal abolition by the autumn of 1650.