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History of Presbyterianism in Ireland |
Like other branches of the Universal Church, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland can trace its beginnings to the dawn of Christianity and particularly to the first evangelising journeys of St. Ninian and St. Columba in Scotland, in the fifth and sixth centuries respectively. The emergence of the Kirk as a distinctive church with special responsibility for the spiritual welfare of all the people dates from the Reformation of 1560, after which the present system of Presbyterian government was gradually evolved.
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