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James Ussher (1581 - 1656):
Archbishop, Church of Ireland and writer


James Ussher was born in Dublin. At the age of thirteen he was one of the first students to be admitted to Trinity College, Dublin. In 1600 he became a Master of Arts, was elected to a fellowship, and was ordained in 1601. He was Chancellor of St Patrick's and incumbent of Finglas, and in 1607 he was appointed Professor of Divinity in Trinity College, Dublin. In 1612 he took the degree of Doctor of Divinity and in 1613 published Gravissimae Quaestiones de Christianorum Ecclesiarum Continua Successione et Statu. In 1614 and again in 1617 he was chosen Vice-Chancellor of the Trinity College, Dublin. During two years in London he met James I and was appointed to the bishopric of Meath and preached before the House of Commons at Westminster. In March 1625 he became Archbishop of Armagh. He was averse to the use of Irish in the Church of Ireland. He drew up the strongly Calvinistic Articles of Religion for the Church in 1634, though they were never brought into use. During a visit to England in 1649 he witnessed the execution of King Charles I and never returned to Ireland, in 1642 holding the bishopric of Carlisle for a short period. In 1645 he took refuge in Wales. He died in Surrey and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Among his works are Biblical Chronology or Annales Vetris et Novi Testamenti in 2 vols, which sets the creation of the world at 4004 B.C. He was a prolific writer on theological and historical topics and his Works were published in Dublin between 1847 and 1864. After his death his library of ten thousand volumes, containing many Irish and oriental manuscripts of great value, was purchased by the government and eventually placed in Trinity College, Dublin. [ Biographies by Carr and Elrington]
 
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Born: 4 January 1581
Died: 21 March 1656
Kate Newmann