How ‘The Book of Common Prayer’ was the first book printed in Ireland

For almost five centuries, the Book of Common Prayer has contained and conveyed the essence of Anglican spirituality (Photo collage: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Today marks the 470th anniversary of the printing of the first book in Ireland. The Book of Common Prayer was the first book printed in Ireland, and shortly after its printing, the new liturgy was formally introduced into Ireland at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Easter Day, 17 April 1551.

Poring old cuttings from my days as a journalist in The Irish Times, I recently cam across this feature, published 20 years ago on 17 Aril 2001, to mark the 450th anniversary of the printing of that first book:

Printing of Ireland’s first book, the ‘Book of Common Prayer’, to be commemorated

Patrick Comerford

The 450th anniversary of the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer into Ireland and of the printing of the first book in Ireland is being marked by church and State with special services and commemorative stamps.

The Book of Common Prayer was the first book printed in Ireland, and shortly after its printing the new liturgy was formally introduced into Ireland at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Easter Day, April 17th, 1551.

To mark this 450th anniversary Sunday’s Sung Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at which the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, was the preacher, followed the 1549 rite.

An Post is marking the occasion with a new 32p stamp illustrating the original title page of The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the Sacramentes, printed in 1551 at the first printing press in Ireland.

A companion 30p stamp, marking the 300th anniversary of Ireland’s first public library, shows a portrait of Archbishop Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), who built Marsh's Library near St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, in 1701.

The first Book of Common Prayer, produced in England in 1549, was primarily the work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury. In it, Cranmer drew from the early church fathers, eastern liturgies, the medieval Roman rite, the reformed breviary of Cardinal Francisco Quinones, the Sarum rite of the Mass which had been used throughout England, German church orders, and the daily offices.

Clergy who had been burdened since medieval days with a large number of books for liturgical use now had all the services bound together in one simple printed work that was also available for the laity.

Cranmer’s new book also provided for the public reading of the complete Bible in church through the year: the New Testament was to be read every four months, the Old Testament every year, and the Psalter every month.

A year later, in 1550, the Council in Dublin ordered the use of the new prayer book. The “official printer to his Majesty in Ireland”, Humphrey Powell, was given a special grant to establish the first printing press in Ireland, and the Book of Common Prayer was printed in Dublin at his new press in 1551.

Although the new book referred to the Eucharist as “The Supper of the Lorde and Holy Communion, commonly called the Masse”, Archbishop George Dowdall of Armagh, who had been appointed by Henry VIII, fled his diocese, declaring that the government and the bishops had “demolished the mass to bring in another service of England's making”.

A few weeks later, the Book of Common Prayer was used for the first time in Ireland on Easter Day, April 17th, 1551, and the new liturgy was celebrated in the presence of representatives of both church and state, including the Lord Deputy, Sir James Croft, Archbishop George Browne of Dublin, and the Lord Mayor and Bailiffs of the city.

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ALTHOUGH the 1549 Book of Common Prayer was revised in England in 1552, Archbishop Browne insisted that the book printed in Dublin remained the only legal liturgy in Ireland, and insisted on using it in 1553 at the consecration of two new bishops, Hugh Goodacre, who died before he could replace Dowdall at Armagh, and the fiery reformer John Bale of Ossory, who complained that the 1549 liturgy was used in Ireland “like a popish mass”.

Humphrey’s edition of the Book of Common Prayer remained the official prayer book of the Church of Ireland until Edward VI was succeeded by his sister, Mary Tudor. A revised version was introduced in 1560 under Elizabeth I, but a special clause in the legislation allowed services to continue in Latin where the people did not speak English, so long as the new form of service was observed.

The revision of 1662 was a partial return to a more Catholic understanding of liturgy. Its cultural impact remains through its introduction from eastern sources of the concluding doxology in the Lord's Prayer: “For thine is the kingdom …”

Since then, the Book of Common Prayer has been revised in the Church of Ireland in 1877, after disestablishment, and in 1927. The General Synod, which meets in Dublin next month, is in the process of debating the contents of a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer due to be published in 2004, which will contain services in both traditional and contemporary styles.

According to the editor of the new Book of Common Prayer, Canon Brian Mayne, both styles “are being recognised as authentic worship integrities”. Of course, the new book will not include the 1549 rite, used in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday.

But, according to some liturgists, the 1549 rite is among the best liturgies of the Reformation period. The Book of Common Prayer continues to be a work of great poetry and linguistic beauty, and some of its spirit will live on through the use of a traditional language Evensong.

Cranmer’s book had a role in shaping modern English that puts it alongside the works of Shakespeare and the King James translation of the Bible, his collects and cadences had far-reaching influences, and his inspired phrases continue to be used commonly.

Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue welcomes Scottish Episcopal Church delegation

Members of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue and the Scottish Episcopal Church’s Inter-Church Relations Committee during their visit to Marsh’s Library, Dublin

The following press release and this photograph were issued last week on behalf of the Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue of the Church of Ireland:

The Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue (CCUD) was pleased to host a visit of the Inter-Church Relations Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) on Monday 11 April. Meetings were held in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and focused on national and global ecumenical partnerships and the Church of Ireland and Methodist Church Covenant.

The group attended evensong in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and was given a tour of Marsh’s Library.

Commenting on the visit, the Bishop of Clogher and Chairman of CCUD, the Right Revd John McDowell, said: ‘We were delighted when the Inter-Church Relations Committee of the SEC suggested that they might visit Ireland to discuss matters of common interest, especially the origin and development of interchangeability arrangements between the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church in Ireland. Our discussions were very wide-ranging and we benefited from a first-hand account of developments within the SEC and their relationships with other Christian traditions.’

The Church of Ireland was represented by:

The Right Revd John McDowell (Co-Chair)
The Rt Revd Michael Burrows
The Revd Canon Patrick Comerford
The Very Revd Nigel Dunne
The Revd Canon Dr Ian Ellis
The Revd Canon Niall Sloane
The Ven Helene Steed
Ms Cate Turner

The Scottish Episcopal Church was represented by:

The Revd Canon John McLuckie (Co-Chair)
Ms Elspeth Davey
The Revd Canon Dean Fostekew
Mrs Norma Higgott
Mrs Helen Hood
The Revd Andrew Letby
Dr Alastair Mason
The Revd Sandy Montgomerie

The Most Revd Dr Brendan Leahy (Roman Catholic Bishop of Limerick) was also in attendance.

‘1916: Tales from the Other Side’ – an exhibition in Marsh’s Library

Marsh’s Library has remained largely unchanged since opened over 300 years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

For the past two days, a delegation from the Scottish Episcopal Church has been visiting the Church of Ireland. Between the meetings and the talks in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, the programme has included Choral Evensong in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and a guided tour of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral with the Cathedral Manager and Dean's Verger, Louis Parminter.

One of the highlights of the visit was a private tour of Marsh’s Library, beside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and the current exhibition, ‘1916: Tales from the Other Side,’ which opened last month [March 2016].

Dr Jason McElligott, Keeper of Marsh’s Library, brought us through this new exhibition, which explores minority experiences in 1916 and in the years that followed.

This exhibition curated by Dr Elaine Doyle uses the unique archive of books, manuscripts and artefacts in Marsh’s Library to trace how minority communities responded to the tumultuous events of the Irish revolution 100 years ago.

These include the diaries of Jessica Taylor, a middle-class teenager who travelled into Dublin on Easter Week, follow a scholar as he crosses a city at war, and introduces a student librarian, Richard William FitzPatrick, as he joins the British Army in the aftermath of rebellion.

The exhibition introduces artists, librarians, cleaners and former revolutionaries, each negotiating aspects of their identity, and whose lives intersected with Marsh’s Library at a defining moment. The exhibition focuses especially on stories from the Protestant and Jewish communities in Dublin.

A 48-page catalogue, designed by Alan Costello, features 35 colour images of items from the exhibition, including letters from Sir Roger Casement, watercolours by Seán O’Casey, and ‘bullet books’, ancient texts that were damaged by machinegun fire during Easter Week and that have never been repaired.

The ‘bullet books’ on display have deliberately never been repaired (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

The exhibition opens with a magazine published in 1916 by Irish Life, claiming to be ‘a plain narrative of events as they occurred’ and the front page of The Irish Times which called the rebellion ‘the darkest week in the history of Dublin.’

The library was directly in the line of fire between the insurgents’ position at Jacob’s biscuit factory and the barracks of the Dublin Metropolitan Police on Kevin Street.

The area around Jacob’s was relatively quiet during Easter Week, possibly because of a British decision to ‘lock down’ the area to protect Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. However, on Sunday 30 April 1916, a British army machinegun ‘inadvertently’ fired on the library from Saint Patrick’s Park. The result was significant damage to the roof and the windows of the reading room.

The bullets also struck a bookshelf, ‘injuring five books’. The books ‘injured’ were part of the original collection of the first librarian, the Revd Dr Elias Bouhereau.

These books have deliberately never been repaired. We were shown how each book has a compact entry hole of 1.5 cm on its spine, but the exit hole at the back is five or six times larger. The 400 or so pages within the covers of each book were ripped to shreds by the trajectory of the bullets and compressed by the pressure waves generated by the projectiles.

The machine-gunner was about 350 metres from the points of impact, and the damaged books give an insight into the effect of bullets on human flesh and bone.

In October 1916, the trustees of Marsh’s Library noted the ‘damage caused to the Library and its contents by the Sinn Féin Rebellion.’ The choice of the adverb ‘inadvertently’ in the minutes indicates the sympathies of the library trustees and staff.

The exhibition tells the story of the library’s exchange with the Chief Justice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Following the formation of the Irish Free State, the librarian made an oblique reference in October 1922 to the recent ‘malicious injuries to the windows’ of the library. It appears the staff believed the damage was motivated by anti-Protestant sentiment.

The first Chief Justice of the Irish Free State, Hugh Kennedy, wrote to the librarian In 1924, asking why he had not been notified of the recent annual meeting of the trustees.

The terse and formal reply from the library acknowledged that the Chief Justice of Ireland had been an ex officio trustee, but argued ‘that office has now been abolished; and … the office of Chief Justice of the Irish Free State is not identical with that of the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.’ Interesting to note that Archbishop March was a Lord Justice of Ireland six times between 1699 and 1711.

It was not until 1969 that the library invited the then Chief Justice of Ireland, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, later President of Ireland, to attend the next annual meeting as an ex officio trustee.

All these stories are told in the exhibition, which also includes letters and postcards from Sir Roger Casement, a visitors’ from the time, accounts and bills for repairs to the library after the Rising, and catalogues from military outfitters of the day.

Marsh’s Library was founded in the early 18th century by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713). The building was designed by Sir William Robinson, the Surveyor General of Ireland, and is one of the few 18th century buildings in Dublin that is still used for its original purpose.

Many of the collections in the library are still kept on the shelves allocated to them by Archbishop Marsh and by Elias Bouhéreau, a Huguenot refugee, when the Library was opened.

Archbishop Marsh donated his own collection of books and bought the collection of Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester. Dr Bouhéreau’s books were also added in those early days.

Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713) was born in Hannington, near Swindon, Wiltshire, the youngest in a family of five: his brothers were given the names Epaphroditus and Onesiphorus. He was educated at Magdalen Hall (now Hertford College), Oxford. From an early age, Marsh was identified with the Caroline Divines, and as an undergraduate, he noted: ‘All this while I constantly kept an entire fast every week from Thursday, six o’clock at night, until Saturday, eleven at noon.’ He spent a year (1670-1671) with one of the Caroline Divines in the Church of England, Bishop William Beverdige, correcting and supervising his monumental work on the Canons of the Greek Councils, published in Oxford in 1672.

He was ordained deacon and priest on the same day in 1662 by Robert Skinner, Bishop of Oxford, and became chaplain to another Caroline Divine, Seth Ward, Bishop of Exeter.

March came to Ireland in 1679 when the Duke of Ormonde nominated him as Provost of Trinity College Dublin. At TCD, he actively promoted the Irish language, started building the new College Hall and Chapel, and revised the regulations for administering the College library. But he also described Dublin as ‘this lewd debauched town.’

He went on to become Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin (1683), Archbishop of Cashel (1691), Archbishop of Dublin (1694) and Archbishop of Armagh (1703). As Archbishop of Dublin, he lived next to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the site of Marsh’s Library in the Archbishop’s palace, known as Saint Sepulchre’s, later Kevin Street Garda Station. He described ‘the stateliness of all the public rooms” but noted that the palace “has no chapel or library … or even any convenient room to hold an ordinary study of books.’ He died in 1713 and is buried in the grounds of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

In a sermon preached in the Chapel of TCD in 1920, the Keeper of Marsh’s Library, the Revd Newport Benjamin White, recalled words penned by Marsh on his 52nd birthday: ‘I thank my God that my conscience doth not reproach me for any negligence either in my study or calling; but I do find a great deal of comfort in what I have done.’

The books Marsh left to the library included printed works in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Slavonic, Persian and Turkish. He left his collection of Oriental manuscripts to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Readers with rare books were locked into one three elegant wired alcoves or ‘cages’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

The library was formally incorporated in 1707 by an Act of Parliament vesting the house and books in trustees known as Governors and Guardians of Marsh’s Library.

Marsh’s Library on Saint Patrick’s Close houses more than 25,000 rare and fascinating books. Inside, the library and its beautiful dark oak bookcases have remained largely unchanged since it was opened over 300 years ago, and it is a fine example of a late Renaissance and early Enlightenment library. Each oak bookcase has carved and lettered gables, topped by a mitre, and we were also shown three elegant wired alcoves or ‘cages’ where readers were locked in with rare books.

Marsh’s Library is open to the public and children are particularly welcome. Scholars may consult the holdings by arrangement. The library is open on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Sundays and Tuesdays.

The exhibition, ‘1916: Tales from the Other Side,’ continues in Marsh’s Library until the end of this year [December 2016].

A rainy spring evening on the steps of Marsh’s Libray (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Paying tribute to the Keeper

Front Square in Trinity College Dublin in the dark and the rain this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

Patrick Comerford

The Christmas lights were decked across Grafton Street this evening as I made way to Trinity College Dublin for a reception in the Long Room in the Library. We were gathered to pay tributes to Dr Muriel McCarthy, who retired last month as Keeper of Marsh’s Library.

Muriel has been on the staff of Marsh’s Library for the past 44 years, and was Keeper for the last 22 years, until she retired on 13 October. Among those present to pay tribute to Muriel were her twin sister, Mairead, and Mairead’s husband, the Wexford historian and journalist Nicky Furlong; Muriel’s son, the filmmaker Justin McCarthy; and clergy, librarians, historians and academics from throughout Ireland.

Muriel was the first woman to be appointed Keeper, and has published a history of the library. Her contribution to the cultural life of Ireland has been recognised by many awards, including honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Maynooth, life membership of the Royal Dublin Society and the Old Dublin Society, the Lord Mayor’s awards in 1988 and 1994, and being appointed a lay canon of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.

We were regaled with stories about Muriel’s achievements at Marsh’s, which include restoring the fabric of the building, creating and developing the Delmas Conservation Bindery and computerising the entire library catalogue which is now available on the internet.

Those paying tribute to her included Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Professor Patrick Prendergast, and the Vice-Provost, Dr Jane Ohlmeyer, who is the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin. All three are ex-officio Governors and Guardians of the Library, and were introduced by Muriel’s successor, Dr Jason McElligott, who read for his Ph.D. in modern history at Saint John’s College, Cambridge. Since 2008, he has worked at the Trinity Long Room Hub, the arts and humanities research institute at TCD.

The other Governors and Guardians of Marsh’s Library include the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, the Archbishop of Armagh and the Chief Justice of Ireland.

Marsh’s Library is in Saint Patrick’s Close, beside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and it is said that to study and examine the books in Marsh’s Library “is to explore Europe’s great cultural heritage.”

Marsh’s Library, which stands in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Close, was founded over 300 years ago in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), a former Provost of Trinity College Dublin.

This was the first public library in Ireland, and is one of the few 18th century buildings left in Dublin that is still used for its original purpose. We were told too that many of the books in the library are still on the shelves allocated to them by Archbishop Marsh and by the first librarian, Elias Bouhéreau.

The Library was formally incorporated in 1707 by an Act of Parliament called “An Act for settling and preserving a public library for ever.” As one speaker asked, which wise legislator today would now introduce an act containing the words “for ever”?

The 1707 Act vested the house and books in a number of religious and state dignitaries and officials and their successors as Governors and Guardians of the Library.

In 1705 Narcissus Marsh paid £2,500 for the library of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet of Worcester, almost 10,000 books and then regarded as the finest private library in England. In turn, Archbishop Marsh left all his books to the library, and when he died in 1713 he was buried nearby in the grounds of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

The first librarian, Dr Elias Bouhéreau, was a Huguenot refugee who fled France in 1695. Later, Bishop John Stearne of Clogher, bequeathed his books to Marsh’s Library in 1745.

There four main collections in the library include 25,000 books from the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, including 80 books printed before 1501, 430 books printed in Italy before 1600, 1,200 books printed in England before 1640, and 5,000 books printed in England before 1700. There is a large collection of liturgical works, missals, breviaries, books of hours of the Sarum use, Bibles, and books on theology and religious controversy, as well as books on medicine, law, science, travel, navigation, mathematics, music, surveying, classical literature and Irish history.

Other proud possessions include a Latin version of the Lives of the Irish Saints, dating from about 1400, and rare 16th century madrigals printed in Venice, Antwerp and London.

Through her lectures, her books and her work Muriel has raised the profile of Marsh’s Library in recent decades. In recognition of her achievements, we were told, the Governors have established a Research Fellowship fund in her name.

As I left the lbrary and walked across Front Square, the rain had started coming down. Perhaps winter has arrived. But it is less than a month to Christmas.

The Christmas lights decked across Grafton Street this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)