The Order in Ireland
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In 2004, President Mary McAleese of Ireland was awarded the Collar of the Constantinian Order at a ceremony at Aras an Uachtaràin, and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, TD, then President of the European Council, was also honoured. Other knights include former Taoiseach John Bruton, Judge Patrick Clyne, and HE Donal Downes, President of the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland.
The Delegation's Vice-Delegate for Ireland is Professor Richard Conroy. Other members in Ireland include Michael Joseph McDonnell, former Lieutenant of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, HE Mr Dáithi O'Ceallaígh, former Ambassador of Ireland to the Court of James's and the UN in Geneva, The Rt Hon Paul Murphy, MP, former Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, a former Lord Mayor of Dublin. Among others include former Vice President of the Irish Association of the Order of Malta, Mr Patrick White, the Association's former Chancellor the late Sean Kevin Cunnane, his successor John Igoe, and the Independent Assessor of Military Complaints Procedures and Chairman of The Prince’s Trust in Northern Ireland James McDonald. The Order's Chief Chaplain for Ireland is the Archbishop Emeritus of Dublin, His Eminence Desmond, Cardinal Connell, who was invested into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order in November 2002. The Most Rev Dr Raymond Field, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, is also a chaplain of the Delegation.
Across the island of Ireland, numerous charitable initiatives have been adopted and supported. In Northern Ireland, the Forthspring Inter-Community Group in Belfast, which works to bridge the divided communities in the province, has been significantly supported by the Delegation. In the Irish Republic, the DePaul Trust of Ireland and Citywise, which seeks to educate children and teenagers who have dropped out of society or are addicts from broken homes, are among the charitable bodies which have been supported by the Order.
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Over the last century there have been numerous knights and dames invested into the Constantinian Order from across the island of Ireland including members of the old Gaelic nobility, the Order of Malta, the clergy as well as parliamentarians and leading businessmen. The first known Irishman to be invested into the Order was Benedotto Harvey who was appointed a Knight of Grace in 1728. The late Denis O'Conor Don, Head of the House of Connaught, and descendant of the dynasty that ruled as High Kings of Ireland until the Anglo-Norman conquest at the end of the twelfth century, was a member.
Current Irish knights of the Royal Order of Francis I include leading businessman, Sir Michael Smurfit, and the former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice of Knock.
