The archbishop, who built ‘The Royal Chapel of St Matthew’, in order to serve a booming Church of Ireland population in the main port of Dublin 300 years ago, was a scourge of Presbyterians.

Archbishop William King was the son of a Scots Presbyterian family who had emigrated to Co. Antrim. When he left Ulster to study in Trinity College, Dublin, he became a convert to the ‘established church’, as the Church of Ireland was then called because the government was behind it.

King retained a Scots accent to the end of his life. It was said to have delayed his promotion, while men with English accents, or at least southern Irish ones, were promoted ahead of him.

About 1688 the Catholic King James II fell out with so many of the wealthy landowners in England that they sent to Holland to invite his Protestant son-in-law to take over the English, Scottish and Irish thrones. There was civil war. One of the people imprisoned in Dublin Castle by James’s government on the claim that they were spies for the Prince of Orange was Dr. William King. He was let out after the battle of the Boyne, when King James fled to France. A few months later the new King William made William King Bishop of Derry, not just as a reward but because he was one of the most learned men in the church.

In Derry, Dr King sought to convert the Presbyterian majority to Church of Ireland beliefs. It was a tough contest. Even Dr. King’s own father refused to pay tithes (a form of tax) to his son’s church. After twelve years of scourging the Presbyterians of Derry he was promoted Archbishop of Dublin.

In the capital he set about building churches and appointing clergy to serve the astonishing physical and population explosion of the early 18th century. It was the era of the first Celtic Tiger. He decided that the port was a haunt of people who needed more church services. Also, it was often cut off from the city by high tides and storms, so it needed its own church. Dr. King got the legal paperwork in order in 1704. It took two years to get all the preliminary works organised and started. He travelled to Ringsend in August 1706 to bless the corner stone of his new church.

Andrew Whittaker is the author of a book of historical essays to commemorate the 300th Anniversary of St Matthew’s Church. Andrew lives in Sandymount and is a member of the parish vestry. He was the London Editor and Business Editor of the Irish Times. For the last 12 years he has published a journal of business law. The book will be available in local book shops after the launch in the Mount Herbert Hotel on 9th October.