The Most Rev Dr Robin Eames

Denomination	Church of Ireland
Senior posting
See	Armagh
Title	Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All-Ireland
Period in office	1986 — 2006
Consecration	21 April 1986
Predecessor	John Ward Armstrong
Successor	Alan Harper
Religious career
Priestly ordination	1963
Previous bishoprics	Derry and Raphoe, Down and Dromore
Previous post	Bishop
Personal
Date of birth	27 April, 1937
Place of birth	Belfast

Robin Henry Alexander Eames, PhD, DD, Baron Eames of Armagh (born 27 April 1937) was the Anglican Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh from 1986 to 2006. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (Irish: Eaglais na hÉireann) is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating seamlessly across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ... Primate of All Ireland is the title held by the Archbishop of Armagh. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... John Ward Arsmtrong was Anglican Archbishop of Armagh from 1980 to 1986. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Church of Irelands diocesan system is based on the 900-year-old system set up by the Synod of Rathbreasail. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... PhD usually refers to the academic title Doctor of Philosophy PhD can also refer to the manga Phantasy Degree This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: DD, dd DD, dd or other variants may refer to: // Electronics Dolby Digital, the trademark for an audio compression system created by Dolby Laboratories Computing dd, an element in HTML and XHTML for specifying definition data Deployment Descriptor, a component in Java 2... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Primate of All Ireland is the title held by the Archbishop of Armagh. ... Primate of All Ireland is the title held by the Archbishop of Armagh. ...

Education

Robin Eames was born in 1937, the son of a Methodist minister. His early years were spent in Larne, with the family later moving to Belfast. Robin Eames was educated at the city's Belfast Royal Academy and Methodist College before going on to study at the Queen's University of Belfast, graduating LL.B (Upper Second Class Honours) in 1960, and earning a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical Law and History in 1963. He qualified in theology with a Divinity Testimonium (2nd class) from Trinity College, Dublin. During his undergraduate course at Queen's, one of his philosophy lecturers was his future Catholic counterpart, Cahal Daly. While an undergraduate, he was briefly involved in the Young Unionists. Rugby, athletics and sailing are his favourite sports. Belfast Royal Academy is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... Methodist College is a private college that is supported by the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. ... The Queens University of Belfast (QUB) is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland; the university is often called Queens University Belfast. ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws (or Baccalaureate of Laws) is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries other than the United States, where it has been replaced by the Juris Doctor degree. ... Doctor of Philosophy (from Greek , meaning Teacher of Philosophy), typically abbreviated Ph. ... Cahal Brendan Cardinal Daly (born October 1, 1917) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1990 to 1996. ... The Ulster Young Unionist Council (Known as the Young Unionists) is the youth wing of the political party, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

Ministry in Ireland

Turning his back on legal studies for ordination in the Church of Ireland, Eames embarked on a three-year course at the divinity school in Trinity College, Dublin in 1960, but found the course "intellectually unsatisfying". In 1963 he was appointed curate assistant at Bangor Parish Church, becoming Rector of St Dorothea's in Belfast three years later. In the same year, 1966, he married Christine Daly. Trinity College, Dublin, corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

As Senior Primate of the Anglican Communion, Lord Eames prays at the enthronement of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury

During his time in St Dorothea's, in the Braniel and Tullycarnet area of east Belfast, he developed a 'coffee bar ministry' among young people but the Troubles interrupted. During this time he rescued a Catholic girl from a loyalist mob who had set her family home on fire. He mysteriously turned down the opportunity to become dean of Cork and in 1974 was appointed rector of St Mark's in Dundela in east Belfast, formerly C. S. Lewis's family church. In May 1975, at the age of 38, he was appointed bishop of the cross-border diocese of Derry and Raphoe - having visited Derry only once. In a groundbreaking move, he invited his similarly young Catholic counterpart, Dr Edward Daly, to his consecration. Eames was translated five years later to the diocese of Down and Dromore. In 1986, he became the 103rd Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... For the English boxer, see Rowan Anthony Williams. ... The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader and senior clergyman of the Church of England, recognized by convention as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the city in Ireland. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and scholar. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Church of Irelands diocesan system is based on the 900-year-old system set up by the Synod of Rathbreasail. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... A Bogside mural commemorates Dalys action on Bloody Sunday. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Freemasonry

Robin Eames joined the Freemasons as a young man, then later resigned. There is some dispute about when he resigned. The Church of Ireland maintain that he resigned while a curate. In an interview with the Sunday Business Post, the grand secretary of the Freemasons in Ireland said: “Archbishop Eames resigned from his lodges – he was a member of more than one lodge - about the time he was appointed primate.” American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ... From the Latin curatus (compare Curator), a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure (cura), of souls of a parish. ... The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Thomas Crosbie Holdings Limited. ... Families 15, See classification A primate (L. prima, first) is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ...

The Drumcree Controversy

Drumcree Church, a rural parish near Portadown, became the site of a majot political incident in 1996, when the annual Orangemen's march was banned from returning to the centre of Portadown via the Natonalist Garvaghy road after attending worship at Drumcree parish church.This decision was made by the Chief Constable of the Drumcree Church is the parish church of Drumcree, a rural Church of Ireland parish to the north of Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

Royal Ulster Constabulary and not the Northern Ireland parades commission who did not have authority at this time and were an advisory body only.It was also outwith the remit of the police to forbid worship in the church. The ensuing public unrest and violence escalated and over the next three to four summers the situation in Northern Ireland was very unstable with other parades coming under, first police and later commission sanction.

There was great unease in the Church of Ireland as it is truly a broad church in theology and politics and has within its congregations nationalists in the south and unionists in the north and many orangemen holding office in local parishes. This is not an easy governance and Eames , along with the rector of Dumcree was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. However it is the perception of many that he did nothing at all.Some bishops in the Republic of Ireland called for Eames to close the parish church.Notable among these was Bishop John Neill who later became Archbishop of Dublin. Eames refused to do so, believing this action could have precipitated greater unrest and possibly bloodshed. Eames described the Drumcree controversy as his "own personal Calvary". After years of annual unrest in the days leading up to and following "Drumcree Sunday" (the Sunday before the 12th of July, when Orangemen marched to the church), the dispute continues but the public unrest has decreased by a massive degree although July and August remain the most dangerous months of the year in the north.

Anglicanism's "Troubleshooter"

Robin Eames as illustrated on the cover of his authorised biography

• Chairman of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on "Communion and Women in the Episcopate", 1988-89.
• Chairman of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, 1991.
• Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, 2003-2004.

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The Windsor Report

Main article: Windsor Report

Eames is also a significant figure within the general Anglican Communion. In 2003, the self-styled 'divine optimist' was appointed Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, which examined significant challenges to unity in the Anglican Communion. The Commission published its report ("the Windsor Report") on 18 October 2004. The Windsor Report was the document containing the finding of the Eames Commission. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ... The Windsor Report was the document containing the finding of the Eames Commission. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Retirement and Succession

At the Church of Ireland General Synod 2006 he announced his intention to retire on 31 December 2006. Church law permitted him to continue as primate until the age of 75; he resigned in good health at the age of 69. On Wednesday 10 January, 2007, the eleven serving bishops of the Church of Ireland, meeting at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, elected the Rt. Rev.Alan Harper, Bishop of Connor, as Dr. Eames's successor. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Honours, Distinctions and Awards

• Select preacher at Oxford University, 1987.

• Created Life Peer, he was gazetted as Baron Eames of Armagh in the County of Armagh on on 25 August 1995 (on the recommendation of the prime minister, John Major MP). He sits as a cross-bencher.

• Honorary doctorates: Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.), honoris causa by The Queen's University of Belfast, 1989; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by Trinity College, Dublin, 1992; Doctor of Literature degree (D.Litt.) honoris causa by Greenwich University of Cambridge, 1994; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by University of Cambridge, 1994; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by Lancaster University, 1994; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by Aberdeen University, 1997; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by Exeter University, 1999; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by University of Ulster, 2002.

• Honorary Bencher of Lincoln's Inn, London 1998.

• Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. The Award was presented by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, on Thursday 16 November, 2006, at a special service in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh. Presenting the award, Archbishop Williams said: “We have in the Anglican Communion various ways of recognising distinguished service. There are awards given at Lambeth, there is the cross of St Augustine. But once in a while somebody comes along for whom this doesn't seem completely adequate and when Desmond Tutu retired, the then Archbishop of Canterbury invented the Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. Tonight it is a huge privilege to present that award for the second time.”

• Tipperary International Peace Award, 2006 (to be presented in April 2007 at the Tipperary International Festival).

The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... In the United Kingdom, Life Peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited (those whose titles are inheritable are known as hereditary peers). ... A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court. ... Part of Lincolns Inn drawn by Thomas Shepherd c. ... The Archbishop of Canterburys Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion is the highest award within the Anglican Communion. ...

See also

• List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords

This is a list of Members of the United Kingdom House of Lords who were born, live or lived in Northern Ireland. ...

External links

• List of Life Peerages
• Biography of Robin Eames, Nobody's Fool by Alf McCreary.