Michael Geoffrey St Aubyn Jackson (born 24 May 1956) is a Church of Ireland

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. Since 2011, he has served as the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

and Bishop of Glendalough in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

. He is also the co-chairman of the

Porvoo Communion The Porvoo Communion is a Communion (Christian), communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Lutheran, Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the sa ...

of Anglican and Lutheran churches.

Early life and family

Jackson was born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

, County Armagh,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the son of a Church of Ireland rector (latterly appointed

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

of Elphin & Ardagh), and educated at Ballinamallard Primary School and Portora Royal School,

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

. He achieved the Louis Claude Purser Entrance Scholarship to

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 Univ ...

. In 1976, as only a Junior Freshman, he was elected as a scholar of the college in classics, the greatest undergraduate achievement. As a Senior Freshman was awarded the Bishop Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek. As a Sophister, he achieved a First in the Moderatorship Part I along with a Mullins Classical Exhibition, before finally taking a first class Moderatorship II in Classics and a gold medal, and graduating with a B.A. in 1979. He incepted to M.A. in 1982. He read theology at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he was elected a foundation scholar of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

and took a First Class Tripos Part II in Theology and Religious Studies. He is married to Inez Cooke, a medical doctor who was born in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, and they have one daughter, Camilla.

Ecclesiastical career

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 ...

to the

Anglican ministry The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. ''Ministry'' commonly refers to the office of ordination, ordained clergy: the ''threefold order'' of bishops, priests and deacons. Anglican m ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1986 and a priest in 1987. His first pastoral appointment was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at Zion Parish,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and he also lectured at

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 ...

and the Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute). His next appointment was as college chaplain at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, from 1989 to 1997 where was also a

Student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

. He returned to Ireland and served as the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

of St Fin Barre's Union and Dean of Cork, from 1997 to 2002. Jackson has held many notable positions in the Church of Ireland, including chairmanship of the Church in Society Committee and, currently, chairmanship of the Board for Social Theology. Jackson also plays an active role in the wider

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

, especially in the areas of ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. Jackson was elected

Bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher (, ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and ...

by the Church of Ireland

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

on 21 November 2001 and consecrated at St Patrick's Anglican Cathedral, Armagh, on 6 March 2002. On 2 February 2011, he was elected

and Bishop of Glendalough, and enthroned 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 ...

, on 8 May 2011, succeeding John Neill. Jackson has caused several controversies during his incumbency in Dublin, including a media fracas regarding comments about sectarianism made in a speech during the 2013 diocesan synod There was also controversy over the closure of the 200 year old Church of Ireland College of Education and its amalgamation into

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

, ending the historic link with

Jackson declined to make a statement either in favor of or against the 2024 referendums on the family and care, citing the level of debate around the term "durable". Ultimately, both proposals were rejected by the voters, leading

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

to decide to step down as

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

; while some media outlets linked this decision to the failure of both referendums, the Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan said he did not believe it was the "defining reason" for the resignation.

References

External links

;Church of Ireland press releases *
New Bishop of Clogher
(21 November 2001) – announcing Jackson's election *

(6 March 2002) – announcing Jackson's consecration *

(2002) – joint message by Michael Jackson and Joseph Duffy, his Catholic counterpart *
The Right Reverend Michael Jackson Elected as New Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough
(2 February 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Michael 1956 births Living people People educated at Portora Royal School People from Lurgan Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Archdeacons of Elphin Anglican archbishops of Dublin Bishops of Clogher (Church of Ireland) Anglican bishops in Northern Ireland Deans of Cork Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Irish Anglican archbishops Christian clergy from County Armagh