The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ireland

Stake Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
LDS Meetinghouse in Clonsilla, Ireland.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Ireland since at least 1840, when the Mormon missionary John Taylor preached in Newry.[1] He and other missionaries converted a number of Irish. Many of the converted emigrated in order to escape poverty (and later famine) as well as to live in majority Latter Day Saint communities.[1] However, some Latter Day Saints remained in Ireland.

Membership

Country/Dependency/ Territory Membership Stakes Wards Branches Total Congregations Family History Centres Missions Temples
Northern Ireland 5,358 1 8 3 11 3
Republic of Ireland 3,451 1 4 9 13 3
All Ireland 8,273 2 12 12 24 6

Today The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (by far the largest Latter Day Saint denomination) claims 2,915 members in the Republic of Ireland.[1] This is contradicted by the 2006 and 2011 censuses which show, respectively, 1237 and 1284 people self-reporting as Latter-day Saints in the Republic.[2] LDS Church membership statistics are typically different from attendance and self-reporting statistics mainly because the LDS Church does not remove an individual’s name from its membership rolls based on inactivity in the church.[3][4]

Currently there are 13 congregations in the Republic of Ireland[1] and 11 congregations in Northern Ireland. Well-known Irish Latter day Saints include Charles Albert Callis who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Robert Sands who was the first conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Missions

The nation of Ireland shares its mission with Scotland (based in Edinburgh).

Temples

There are no LDS temples in Ireland itself.

Both of the UK/British Isles temples are in England. The Preston Temple serves both the Dublin Ireland Stake and the Belfast Northern Ireland Stake, while the London Temple serves the Limerick Ireland District.

 52. Preston England

Location:
Announcement:
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Chorley, Lancashire, United Kingdom
19 October 1992
7 June 1998 by Gordon B. Hinckley
53°40′20.91360″N 2°37′52.59″W / 53.6724760000°N 2.6312750°W / 53.6724760000; -2.6312750 (Preston England Temple)
69,630 sq ft (6,469 m2) and 159 ft (48 m) high on a 15 acre (6.1 ha) site
Modern, single-spire design - designed by Church A&E Services

Notable Irish Latter-day Saints

Charles Callis

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Ireland", Newsroom (LDS Church), 31 December 2011, retrieved 2013-02-22
  2. ↑ "Profile 7: Religion, Ethnicity and Irish Travellers" (PDF). Central Statistics Office.
  3. ↑ "Membership, Retention on the Rise", Ensign, June 2007, pp. 75–80. Church membership growth numbers are often interpreted inaccurately, which can lead to misconceptions in the media, Brother Buckner said. Therefore, it is important to clearly understand what these numbers signify. They represent the number of Church members, but they do not represent activity rates. The Church does not remove an individual’s name from its membership rolls based on inactivity.
  4. ↑ "Church Statistics Reflect Steady Growth". LDS Newsroom. 11 April 2007 it is a challenge for the Church to keep track of all of its members, especially if they do not regularly attend Sunday services. The Church does not remove an individual’s name from its membership rolls based on inactivity.

Further reading

External links

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