Robert Samuel Gregg (3 May 1834 – 10 January 1896) was a 19th-century

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 ...

Life

He was born at the rectory, of

St. David's St Davids or St David's (, , "David's house”) is a cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's p ...

Kilsallaghan,

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, of which parish his father, John Gregg, was then rector, on 3 May 1834. His mother was Elizabeth Law. He was educated 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 ...

, where he graduated as junior moderator in mathematics in 1856, being awarded M.A. in 1860. In the same year Gregg 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 ...

for the

curacy 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 ass ...

of Rathcooney,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, and three years later was appointed rector of Christ Church,

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 ...

, an important cure which brought him in touch with the working-class population of the north of Ireland. In 1862 he returned to the

Diocese of Cork The Diocese of Cork was established in the seventh century. The diocese of Cork was one of the twenty-four dioceses established at the Synod of Rathbreasail on an ancient bishopric founded by Saint Finbarr in the sixth-century. On 30 July 1326, P ...

as rector of Frankfield and chaplain to his father, then Bishop of Cork. Frankfield was perhaps the place with which he was to have the closest connection: his wife Elinor was a native of Frankfield, and they are both buried there. In 1865 he became rector of St Peter's Church, Carrigrohane and precentor of

Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral () is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival three-spire Church of Ireland cathedral in Cork (city), Cork city, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Lee and dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patr ...

, Cork. Here he quickly acquired a high reputation for administrative ability, as well as for the qualities of sound judgment, moderation, and good sense by which he was subsequently distinguished in the episcopal office. In the controversies which followed, the disestablishment of the Irish church, particularly in regard to the revision of the prayer book, Gregg took the conservative side, but his influence was uniformly exerted in a conciliatory spirit. Gregg's principal service to his church at this time lay in devising for his own diocese of Cork the singularly successful financial plan which became the foundation of the financial system of the disendowed Church of Ireland, and on this and other occasions he showed a remarkable talent for finance. In 1873 he was presented by the University of Dublin with the degrees of B.D. and D.D., in recognition of his services to 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 ...

. In 1874, Gregg was appointed

Dean of Cork Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral () is a Gothic Revival three-spire Church of Ireland cathedral in Cork (city), Cork city, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Lee and dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patron saint of the city. Formerl ...

, and in the following year was selected by the Irish bishops to succeed James Thomas O'Brien in the diocese of

Bishop of Ossory . The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but i ...

. Gregg, at forty-one years of age, thus became a member of the episcopal bench while his father was still

Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross is the Church of Ireland Ordinary of the united Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Province of Dublin. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Paul Colton BCL, DipTh, MPhil, LLM, PhD. He was consecrate ...

. On his father's death on 26 May 1878, the synods of Cork, Cloyne and Ross at once selected Gregg to succeed him. As Bishop of Cork, Gregg's most noticeable work lay in the completion of the cathedral of St. Finn Barre, which had been rebuilt during his father's episcopate at a cost of over £100,000. On the death in 1893 of Primate Robert Bent Knox, Gregg was selected to succeed him 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 ...

''Ecclesiastical Intelligence''

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Friday, Dec 15, 1893; pg. 11; Issue 34135; col C and Primate of all Ireland. He married Elinor Bainbridge of Frankfield in 1863, and had two children, John and Amy. Amy in 1898 married, as his second wife, Robert Walsh the Archdeacon of Dublin. He died suddenly at the Palace, Armagh, on 10 January 1896, after about two years' of the primacy, and was buried at Frankfield beside his wife Elinor. His nephew John Gregg became

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregg, Robert 1834 births 1896 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Bishops of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin Bishops of Cork, Cloyne and Ross 19th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland 19th-century Anglican archbishops Anglican archbishops of Armagh Deans of Cork