Editing Robin Eames

{{short description|Anglican Primate of All Ireland}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Essay-like|date=June 2011}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2015}}}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type             = bishop
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|MRevd|&RHon}}
| name             = The Lord Eames
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|size=100%}}
| title            = [[Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Armagh]]<br />[[Primate of All Ireland]] 
| image            = Official portrait of Lord Eames crop 2.jpg
| church           = [[Church of Ireland]]
| province         = [[Province of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Armagh]]
| diocese          = [[Diocese of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Armagh]]
| term             = 1986–2006
| predecessor      = [[John Armstrong (archbishop of Armagh)|John Armstrong]]
| successor        = [[Alan Harper (bishop)|Alan Harper]]
| other_post       = 
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination       = 1963
| ordained_by      = 
| consecration     = 9 June 1975
| consecrated_by   = [[George Simms]]
| birth_name       = Robert Henry Alexander Eames<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Church of Ireland Directory 2013 |url=http://www.dcgpublications.com/images/stories/publications/documents/a5/coid_2013.pdf |access-date=12 November 2017 |website=Dcgpublications.com |archive-date=28 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728092143/http://www.dcgpublications.com/images/stories/publications/documents/a5/coid_2013.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
| birth_date       = {{birth_date and age|df=yes|1936|04|27}}
| birth_place      = [[Belfast]], Northern Ireland
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| buried           = 
| nationality      = [[United Kingdom|British]] 
| religion         = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Christine Daly|1966}}
| previous_post    = [[Bishop of Derry and Raphoe]] <small>''(1975–1980)''</small><br />[[Bishop of Down and Dromore]] <small>''(1980–1986)''</small>
| education        =
| alma_mater       = [[Queen's University Belfast]]
}}

'''Robert Henry Alexander Eames, Baron Eames''' (born 27 April 1936) is an [[Anglican]] bishop and [[life peer]], who served as [[Primate of All Ireland]] and [[Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Armagh]] from 1986 to 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lord Robin Eames |url=https://columbabooks.com/team/lord-robin-eames/ |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Columba Books |language=en-US |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019234512/https://columbabooks.com/team/lord-robin-eames/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Eames was born in 1936, the son of a [[Methodism|Methodist]] minister. His early years were spent in [[Larne]], with the family later moving to [[Belfast]]. He was educated at the city's [[Belfast Royal Academy]] and [[Methodist College Belfast]] (from 1947 – 1955)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Methodist College Register |url=https://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/MethodistCollegeRegister.htm |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=www.lennonwylie.co.uk |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213025052/https://www.lennonwylie.co.uk/MethodistCollegeRegister.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> before going on to study at the [[Queen's University of Belfast]], graduating [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]] (Upper Second Class Honours) in 1960 and earning a Ph.D. degree in [[ecclesiastical law]] and history in 1963.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Lord Eames: Too much religion and not enough Christianity in Northern Ireland |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/lord-eames-too-much-religion-and-not-enough-christianity-in-northern-ireland-38816490.html |access-date=2020-10-16 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229141117/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/lord-eames-too-much-religion-and-not-enough-christianity-in-northern-ireland-38816490.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During his undergraduate course at Queen's, one of his philosophy lecturers was his future [[Roman Catholic]] counterpart, [[Cahal Daly]].

==Ministry==
[[File:Lord Eames.jpg|thumb|left|Eames in 2014]]
Turning his back on legal studies for ordination in the Church of Ireland, Eames embarked on a three-year course at the divinity school of [[Trinity College, Dublin]] in 1960, but found the course "intellectually unsatisfying". In 1963 he was appointed curate assistant at [[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]] Parish Church, becoming [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of St Dorothea's in Belfast three years later.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rowan Williams to preach at service for Robin Eames |url=https://www.downanddromore.org/news/2006/11/rowan-williams-to-preach-at-service-for-robin-eames |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Down & Dromore Diocese |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163327/https://www.downanddromore.org/news/2006/11/rowan-williams-to-preach-at-service-for-robin-eames |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the same year, 1966, he married Christine Daly. During his time at St Dorothea's, in the Braniel and Tullycarnet area of east [[Belfast]], he developed a "coffee bar ministry" among young people, but [[The Troubles]] interrupted. During this time he rescued a Catholic girl from a [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] mob who had set her family home on fire. He turned down the opportunity to become dean of [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and in 1974 was appointed rector of St Mark's in Dundela in east Belfast, a church with strong family links to [[C. S. Lewis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About us |url=http://dundela.down.anglican.org/about-us.html |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=ST MARK'S CHURCH OF IRELAND DUNDELA |language=en |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923184926/http://dundela.down.anglican.org/about-us.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 9 May 1975, at the age of 38, he was elected bishop of the cross-border [[List of Church of Ireland dioceses|Diocese of Derry and Raphoe]] – in a groundbreaking move, he invited his similarly young Catholic counterpart, [[Edward Daly (bishop)|Edward Daly]], to his consecration on 9 June.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARCHBISHOP EAMES 25 YEARS A BISHOP |url=https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/1915/archbishop-eames-25-years-a |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Church of Ireland |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163327/https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/1915/archbishop-eames-25-years-a |url-status=live }}</ref>
Eames was [[translation (ecclesiastical)|translated]] five years later, on 30 May 1980, to the Diocese of Down and Dromore. He was elected to Down and Dromore on 23 April and that election confirmed 20 May 1980. In 1986, he became the 14th Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland since the Church of Ireland's break with Rome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robin Eames Enthroned |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/collections/news/21215409-robin-eames-enthroned |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=RTÉ Archives |language=en |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023173414/https://www.rte.ie/archives/collections/news/21215409-robin-eames-enthroned/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  It was an appointment that caused some level of astonishment among other church leaders.<ref>{{Cite news |title='Cold fish' Robin Eames unwanted by some as Archbishop of Armagh, papers show |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/cold-fish-robin-eames-unwanted-by-some-as-archbishop-of-armagh-papers-show-35330040.html |access-date=2020-10-16 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410175359/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/cold-fish-robin-eames-unwanted-by-some-as-archbishop-of-armagh-papers-show-35330040.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Drumcree controversy==
{{main|Drumcree conflict}}
[[Drumcree Church]], a rural parish near [[Portadown]], became the site of a major political incident in 1996, when the annual Orangemen's march was banned from returning to the centre of Portadown via the Nationalist Garvaghy road after attending worship at Drumcree parish church. This decision was made by the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and not the Northern Ireland parades commission who, at this time, did not have authority to prohibit parades, existing only as an advisory body. Public unrest and violence escalated and over the next three summers the situation was unstable, with other parades coming under first police and later commission sanction.

Archbishop Eames, as diocesan bishop and civil leader found himself immersed in the search for a resolution to the issue. Within the wider Church of Ireland there was unease as it is a broad church in theology and politics and has within its congregations nationalists in the south and unionists in the north. Eames, along with the rector of Drumcree, had to navigate this wider political and social controversy and sought political assistance for his efforts to defuse tension.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-12-30 |title=Archbishop Robin Eames' 'private' intervention over parades |language=en |work=Irish News |url=http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/12/30/news/archbishop-robin-eames-private-intervention-over-parades-1801450/ |access-date=2020-10-16 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018224654/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/12/30/news/archbishop-robin-eames-private-intervention-over-parades-1801450/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some bishops in the Republic of Ireland called for Eames to close the parish church. Notable among these was Bishop [[John Neill (archbishop of Dublin)|John Neill]] who later became [[Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Dublin]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Eames ... the optimist who brought sides together |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/eames-the-optimist-who-brought-sides-together-28118226.html |access-date=2020-10-16 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228185315/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/eames-the-optimist-who-brought-sides-together-28118226.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Eames refused to do so, believing this action could have precipitated greater unrest and possibly bloodshed. Eames described the Drumcree controversy as his "own personal Calvary".<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Martin |date=2016-05-12 |title=Pastoring in troubled times |language=en-US |work=The Irish Catholic |url=https://www.irishcatholic.com/pastoring-in-troubled-times/ |access-date=2020-10-16 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163336/https://www.irishcatholic.com/pastoring-in-troubled-times/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Anglicanism's "troubleshooter"==
{{Further|Windsor Report}}
* Chairman of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on "Communion and Women in the Episcopate", 1988–89.
* Chairman of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, 1991.
* Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, 2003–2004.

Eames was, for many years, a significant figure within the general [[Anglican Communion]]. In 2003, the self-styled "divine optimist" was appointed Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, which examined significant challenges to unity in the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Lectures of Archbishop Robin Eames: A Critique and evaluation |url=https://virtueonline.org/lectures-archbishop-robin-eames-critique-and-evaluation |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Virtue Online |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228185309/https://virtueonline.org/lectures-archbishop-robin-eames-critique-and-evaluation |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Commission published its report ("the [[Windsor Report]]") on 18 October 2004.

==Retirement and succession==
[[File:Lord Eames and Royal Irish .jpg|thumb|right|Archbishop Eames presenting shamrocks to members of The Royal Irish Regiment in 2011]]

At the Church of Ireland General Synod in 2006 he announced his intention to retire on 31 December 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Eames to retire |url=https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2006/05/archbishop-eames-to-retire.aspx |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Anglican News |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163327/https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2006/05/archbishop-eames-to-retire.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Church law permitted him to continue as primate until the age of 75 but he resigned, in good health, at the age of 69. A tribute to him in ''The Irish Times'', assessing his years of public ministry and likely legacy noted that "behind the warm smile, many know there is a man of steel."<ref>{{Cite news |title=The legacy of Dr Robin Eames |language=en |work=Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/the-legacy-of-dr-robin-eames-1.1002664 |access-date=2020-10-16 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228185304/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/the-legacy-of-dr-robin-eames-1.1002664 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 10 January 2007, the eleven serving bishops of the Church of Ireland, meeting at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, elected [[Alan Harper (archbishop)|Alan Harper]], Bishop of Connor, as Eames's successor.

==Consultative Group on the Past in Northern Ireland==
In mid 2007 he was appointed co-chairman, along with [[Denis Bradley]], of the [[Consultative Group on the Past]] in Northern Ireland. This aimed to work out how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, especially as it affects the victims of the Troubles and their relatives.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Martin |date=2016-05-12 |title=Pastoring in troubled times |language=en-US |work=The Irish Catholic |url=https://www.irishcatholic.com/pastoring-in-troubled-times/ |access-date=2020-10-16 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163336/https://www.irishcatholic.com/pastoring-in-troubled-times/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sources close to the Group created some controversy in early 2008 by suggesting that the Troubles could be officially classified as a "war". Relatives of security force victims argued that this would demean the sacrifice of their relatives during the darkest days of the Troubles. Their relatives were often shot when off duty and unable to defend themselves; their opponents were not obeying the rules of war as commonly understood. Many of the final recommendations were derailed over the proposed payment of a pension or stipend to victims.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Should Northern Ireland Revisit the Eames-Bradley Report? |url=https://sluggerotoole.com/2011/06/12/should-northern-ireland-revisit-the-eames-bradley-report/ |access-date=2020-10-16 |website=Slugger O'Toole |language=en-GB |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818163327/https://sluggerotoole.com/2011/06/12/should-northern-ireland-revisit-the-eames-bradley-report/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Group issued its report in January 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/victims/docs/consultative_group/cgp_230109_report.pdf |title=Report of the Consultative Group on the Past |date=23 January 2009 |via=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN) |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923201724/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/victims/docs/consultative_group/cgp_230109_report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
* Select preacher at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]], 1987.
* Created a [[life peer]], he was gazetted as '''Baron Eames''', of [[Armagh]] in the [[County of Armagh]], on 25 August 1995 (on the recommendation of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], [[John Major]], MP).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=54143|date=31 August 1995|page=11867}}</ref> He sits as a [[crossbencher]].
* Honorary doctorates: Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.), ''honoris causa'' by The Queen's University of Belfast, 1989; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by Trinity College, Dublin, 1992; Doctor of Letters degree ([[D.Litt.]]) honoris causa by Greenwich University of Cambridge, 1994; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by University of Cambridge, 1994; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by Lancaster University, 1994; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by Aberdeen University, 1997; Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by Exeter University, 1999; Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) honoris causa by University of Ulster, 2002. Doctor of Divinity degree (D.D.) honoris causa by the University of London, 2008.
* Honorary [[Bencher]] of [[Lincoln's Inn]], London 1998.
* [[Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion]]. The Award was presented by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on 16 November 2006, at a special service in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh. Presenting the award, Archbishop Williams said: “We have in the Anglican Communion various ways of recognising distinguished service. There are awards given at Lambeth, there is the Cross of St Augustine. But once in a while somebody comes along for whom this doesn't seem completely adequate and when Desmond Tutu retired, the then Archbishop of Canterbury invented the Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. Tonight it is a huge privilege to present that award for the second time.”{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
* [[Tipperary International Peace Award]], 2006 (to be presented in April 2007 at the Tipperary International Festival).
* In 2007, he received the [[Order of Merit]] from [[Elizabeth II]]; this is an exclusive order, restricted to 24 members, who receive it in the personal gift of the monarch, and which entitles recipients to the [[postnominals]] 'OM' after their name.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=58379|date=29 June 2007|page=9395}}</ref> He represented the Order at the [[Coronation of Charles III and Camilla|2023 Coronation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Coronation order of service in full |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950 |website=BBC News |access-date=6 May 2023}}</ref>
* Given the Freedom of the City of [[Armagh]] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church of Ireland – A Member of the Anglican Communion |url=http://ireland.anglican.org/news/791 |access-date=12 November 2017 |website=Ireland.anglican.org |archive-date=1 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201122431/http://ireland.anglican.org/news/791 |url-status=live }}</ref>


{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Eames Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Azure on a fess embattled counterembattled Or between three Celtic crosses each dimidated with a shamrock Or a barrulet Azure.
|crest = Within a circlet of shamrocks Or a mitre with infulae Proper.
|supporters = Dexter, a stag per fess Sable and Vert attired and unguled Or gorged with a riband tied Purpure semy of shamrocks Pr; sinister, a stag per fess Vert and Sable attired unguled and gorged with a like riband.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2000}}</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[List of Life Peerages]]
* [[List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Alf McCreary, [https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340862238/ ''Nobody's Fool''] (biography of Robin Eames)

==External links==
* [http://www.cgpni.org Consultative Group on the Past]
{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|ie}}
{{succession box
  | title = [[Bishop of Derry and Raphoe]]
  | years = 1975–1980
  | before = [[Cuthbert Peacocke]]
  | after =  [[James Mehaffey]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title = [[Bishop of Down and Dromore]]
  | years = 1980–1986
  | before = [[George Quin]]
  | after = [[Gordon McMullan]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title = [[Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Armagh]]
  | years = 1986–2006
  | before = [[John Armstrong (archbishop of Armagh)|John Armstrong]]
  | after = [[Alan Harper (bishop)|Alan Harper]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Bishops of Derry and Raphoe}}
{{Bishops of Down and Dromore}}
{{Anglican archbishops of Armagh}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eames, Robin}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Anglican bishops in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers]]
[[Category:Christian clergy from Belfast]]
[[Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast]]
[[Category:Ordained peers]]
[[Category:20th-century Anglican archbishops]]
[[Category:21st-century Anglican archbishops]]
[[Category:Anglican archbishops of Armagh]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Merit]]
[[Category:People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy]]
[[Category:Bishops of Down and Dromore]]
[[Category:Bishops of Derry and Raphoe]]
[[Category:People educated at Methodist College Belfast]]
[[Category:Converts to Anglicanism from Methodism]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:People from Larne]]