Patrick Dorrian (1814–1885) was an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and 23rd Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.

Early life and education

Dorrian was born in

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

on 29 March 1814, one of four sons of Patrick Dorrian and his wife Rose (née Murphy), and was educated first by a Unitarian minister in the classical school in the town, where he excelled, and then in

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, where he was ordained in 1833.

Priestly ministry

His first appointment was as a curate in the then developing town of

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 ...

, attached to

St Patrick's Church, Belfast St. Patrick's Church, Belfast () is a Catholic church located in the Donegall Street area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is built in the Romanesque Revival style, with a four-stage tower and spire rising from the front west elevation.https://ap ...

, where he ministered for ten years. At a relatively young age he was appointed parish priest in Loughinisland, (from 1847 to 1860) at which time he became Bishop of Gabala (

Qabala Qabala () is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnət, Qabala, Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic o ...

) and

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Down and Connor to assist the ailing, frail and irenic Bishop Cornelius Denvir.

Episcopal ministry

Dorrian was consecrated bishop on 19 August 1860, in

St Malachy's Church, Belfast Saint Malachy's Church is a Catholic church in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in Alfred Street, a short distance from Belfast City Hall, although it precedes that building by over 60 years. The church is the focal point of the local pa ...

, and eventually succeeded as bishop five years later on 4 May in 1865. Dorrian was known for his authoritarian style of leadership, referred to as " Cullenite". As the post-Famine population of Belfast grew, so too did sectarian attitudes, especially among those moving into the city from rural districts all over Ulster looking for work. Dorrian sought to defend Catholic interests, insisting on the necessity of separate Catholic education and seeking, where possible, to influence the social and political interests of his church. In this respect historians Sean Connolly (academic) and Gillian McIntosh refer to Dorrian's "pugnacious" presiding over the rapid expansion in priests, churches and religious houses in contrast to the "scholarly but ineffective" Bishop Denvir. It is estimated he was responsible for doubling the number of Catholic churches in the city of Belfast, and in 1866, early in his episcopate,

St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast Saint Peter's Cathedral, Belfast (, ), is the Catholic cathedral church for the Diocese of Down and Connor, and is therefore the episcopal seat of the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor. It is located in the Divis Street area of the Falls Road ...

in Derby St in the Lower Falls area was first used as a pro-cathedral. His episcopal chair, placed in that church for the occasion, is still in use by the bishops of the Diocese of Down and Connor. He attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

and was one of the leading Irish delegation to the event. Dorrian died at the Episcopal Palace, Chichester Park, Belfast, on 3 November 1885, at 7 a.m., the Feast of

Saint Malachy Malachy (; ; Modern ; ) (11th century in Ireland, 1094 – 2 November 1148 in Ireland, 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to t ...

, Patron of the Diocese; his remains were interred within the chancel of

, on Friday 6 November. At a meeting of the parish priests held in the chapel of the

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established o ...

, 6 November 1885, immediately after the funeral of Dorrian, Patrick MacAlister was elected

Vicar Capitular A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic part ...

of Down and Connor. McAllister was then named by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

as Dorrian's successor as the 24th Lord Bishop of Down and Connor. In November 2017 the historic chapel of Belfast's

Mater Infirmorum Hospital The Mater Infirmorum Hospital, commonly known as The Mater, is an acute hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It provides services to most of North Belfast and South Antrim, reaching as far as Glengormley, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey It is m ...

was re-opened after extensive refurbishment. It has, as a result of its connection with Dorrian, become known as the Dorrian Chapel.

References

External links

Bishop Patrick Dorrian at catholic-hierarchy.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorrian, Patrick 1814 births 1885 deaths People from Downpatrick 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Roman Catholic bishops of Down and Connor Christian clergy from County Down