John Ward Armstrong (30 September 1915 – 21 July 1987) was an Irish

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

who served as

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

from 1980 to 1986.

Education and priestly ministry

Armstrong was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, the eldest of four sons (there were no daughters) of John Armstrong, a Belfast corporation official, and his wife, Elizabeth Ward. He was educated at the

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (also known as ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern Ireland ...

and

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

deacon in 1938, and his first position was at All Saints Church, Grangegorman. He was ordained priest on 24 December 1939. He was the clerical vicar at

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...

and then Dean's Vicar at

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of ...

until 1944. He was then rector of Christ Church, Leeson Park, Dublin until he became the Dean of St Patrick's.

Episcopal ministry

Armstrong served as

Bishop of Cashel and Waterford The Bishop of Cashel and Waterford (''Full title'': Bishop of Cashel, County Tipperary, Cashel and Emly with Waterford and Lismore, County Waterford, Lismore) was the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Cashel and Wate ...

from 1968 to 1977, Bishop of Cashel and Ossory from 1977 to 1980. His translation to the See of Armagh in 1980 catapulted him into the fraught world of Northern Irish politics, a deteriorating security situation and the heightened community tensions of the Hunger Strikes and later still, the

Anglo-Irish Agreement The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irelan ...

. Along with fellow Church of Ireland bishops he regularly met political leaders to offer analysis and informed opinion: government minutes of some of those meetings have now been released. These meetings took place with political leaders in both jurisdictions on the island and Armstrong often led delegations to Dublin for talks. He formed such a warm and effective working relationship with his Armagh neighbour Cardinal Tomas O'Fiach that when he announced his retirement, it was recorded that his successor

Robin Eames Robert Henry Alexander Eames, Baron Eames (born 27 April 1936) is an Anglican bishop and life peer, who served as Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh from 1986 to 2006. Early life and education Eames was born in 1936, the son of ...

was regarded by comparison as a "cold fish". He retired in February 1986 at the age of 70 and spent his short retirement in Skerries, County Dublin. He died in July 1987.

References

1915 births Anglican archbishops of Armagh People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 20th-century Anglican archbishops in Ireland Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Bishops of Cashel and Ossory Bishops of Cashel and Waterford 1987 deaths Christian clergy from Belfast {{Ireland-Anglican-bishop-stub