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DOW
had been educated at Rome, but had renounced popery,
was nominated bishop by Jas. I., in 1604, and held the
see of Dromore in commendam: he was tried before
the High Commission Court, which deprived him of the
bishopricks, and afterwards poisoned himself in London.
From 1660 to 1667 these sees were held by the cele-
brated Jeremy Taylor, who had also the administration
of the see of Dromore, and was a privy counsellor and
Vice Chancellor of the University of Dublin. Bishop
Hutchinson, whose episcopacy commenced in 1720, had
the church catechism translated into Irish, and printed
in English and Irish, primarily for the use of the inha-
bitants of Rathlin, and hence it is called the Rathlin
Catechism. Under the Church Temporalities Act,
when either the bishoprick of Down and Connor, or of
Dromore, becomes vacant, Dromore is to be added
to Down and Connor, and the surviving bishop is to
take the title of Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore,
and the temporalities of the see of Dromore are to be
vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The dio-
cese is one of the ten that constitute the ecclesiastical
province of Armagh: it comprehends part of the county
of Antrim, and the greater part of Down, extending 52
British miles in length by about 28 in breadth, and
comprises an estimated area of 201,950 acres, of which,
800 are in Antrim and 201,150 in Down. The gross
annual revenue of the see of Down, on an average of
three years ending Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to
£2830. 16. 8½.; and there are 6411 acres of profitable
land belonging to the diocese. The entire revenue of
the united sees of Down and Connor averages £5896 per
annum, and the see lands comprise 30,244 statute acres.
The chapter consists of a dean, archdeacon, precentor,
and treasurer, and the two prebendaries of St. Andrew’s
and Dunsford. The abbey founded by St. Patrick ap-
pears to have been the first cathedral of this see; it
was several times plundered and burnt by the Danes.
It was repaired by Malachy O’Morgair, in 1137, and by
Malachy III., aided by John de Courcy, in 1176, and
was burnt in 1315 by Lord Edward Bruce. Having
been repaired or rebuilt, it was again burnt, in 1538, by
Lord Leonard de Grey. In 1609, Jas. I. changed the
name of the cathedral from St. Patrick’s to the Holy
Trinity, which was its original designation; and on ac-
count of its being in a ruinous condition, Chas. II., in
1663, erected the church of Lisburn into a cathedral
and bishop’s see for the diocese of Down and Connor.
It continued in ruins till the year 1790, when it was re-
stored by a grant of £1000 from Government and
liberal subscriptions from the nobility and gentry of the
county; and in the same year a rent-charge of £300
late currency on the tithes of the ancient union was ap-
propriated by act of parliament for its repairs and for
the support of an organist, three vicars choral, and six
choristers. It is situated on an eminence to the west of
the town, and is a stately embattled edifice chiefly of
unhewn stone, supported externally by buttresses, and
comprising a nave, choir, and aisles, with a lofty square
tower at the west end, embattled and pinnacled, and
smaller square towers at each corner of the east gable,
in one of which is a spiral stone staircase leading to the
roof. The aisles are separated from the nave by lofty
elegant arches resting on massive piers, from the corbels
of which spring ribs supporting the roof, which is richly
groined and ornamented at the intersections with
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DOW
clusters of foliage. The lofty windows of the aisles are
divided by a single mullion; the nave is lighted by a
long range of clerestory windows, and the choir by a
handsome east window divided by mullions into twelve
compartments, which appears to be the only window re-
maining of the splendid edifice erected in 1412, and
destroyed by Lord de Grey. Over the east window are
three elegant niches with ogee pointed arches, contain-
ing on pedestals the remains of the mutilated effigies of
St. Patrick, St. Bridget, and St. Columbkill. The choir
is handsomely fitted up with stalls for the dignitaries.
The cathedral was opened for the performance of divine
service, after its restoration in 1817: the tower was
completed in 1829, at an expense of £1900. It contains
a monument to the memory of Edward Cromwell, Baron
Okeham, who was proprietor of nearly all Lecale, and
who died and was buried here in 1607; and another to
his grandson Oliver, Earl of Ardglass, who was interred
in 1668. The cathedral service is not performed, the
building being used rather as a second parish, church.
The consistorial court of the united diocese is at Lis-
burn: it consists of a vicar-general, two surrogates, a
registrar, deputy-registrar, and several proctors. The
registrars are keepers of the records of the united
diocese, which consist of the documents relating to the
see lands, benefices, inductions, and wills, the earliest
of which is dated 1650. The number of parishes in the
diocese is 43, which are comprehended in 37 benefices,
of which 6 are in the patronage of the Crown, 2 in that
of the Lord-Primate, 12 in that of the Bishop, 1 in the
gift of the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dub-
lin, 13 in lay patronage, and the remainder are perpe-
tual curacies, in the gift of the incumbents of the
parishes out of which they have been formed. The
number of churches is 40, and there are 2 other epis-
copal places of worship, and 25 glebe-houses.
In the R. C. divisions this diocese is united as in the
Established Church, forming the bishoprick of Down
and Connor: in the Bishoprick of Down are 18 paro-
chial districts, containing 37 chapels served by 28
clergymen, 18 of whom are parish priests and 10 co-
adjutors or curates. The cathedral of the united diocese
is at Belfast, where the R. C. bishop resides.
The parish comprises, according to the Ordnance
survey, 11,484½ statute acres, of which 125 are water,
and there is neither waste land nor bog within its
limits; the land is very fertile, and, with the exception
of some marshes, is all arable, and in an improved state
of cultivation. There are several quarries of rubble
stone, which is used principally for building. The
scenery is enriched with numerous gentlemen’s seats, of
which the principal are Hollymount, the beautiful resi-
dence of Col. Forde, situated in an extensive demesne,
richly planted and well watered; Ballykilbeg House,
the residence of J. Brett Johnston, Esq.; and Vianstown,
of Mrs. Ward. About two miles from the town is the
beautiful lake of Ballydugan; and near it is Ballydugan
House, memorable as the residence of Col. White, who
was murdered, and the mansion burnt in the war of 1641.
The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Down, formerly
united, by royal charter in the 7th of James I., to the
rectories of Saul, Ballyculter, Ballee, Bright, and Tyrella,
which together constituted the union and corps of the
deanery of Down; but under the provisions of the
Church Temporalities Act, the ancient union has been