Press Releases19 Mar 08

Royal Maundy Service at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the Maundy Service in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh on Thursday 20th March 2008 where she will distribute alms to eighty-two men and eighty-two women selected by the four main denominations in recognition of their work for their church and their community.

It is the first time the Royal Maundy Service has been held at St Patrick’s Cathedral, and only the second time it has been held outside England.

The Royal Maundy Service is a long-established tradition that is first recorded in 1210, when King John was at Knaresborough, Yorkshire; but the tradition can be traced back to the seventh century.

The eighty-two men and eighty-two women receiving alms represent Her Majesty’s eighty-second year, and each will receive eighty-two pence in newly-minted, Sterling silver Maundy coins.

Maundy coins have traditionally been struck in Sterling silver, except for the brief interruptions of Henry VIII’s debasement of the coinage and the general change to fifty per cent silver coins in 1920. The Sterling silver standard was resumed following the Coinage Act 1946.

Unlike ordinary circulating coinage upon which Her Majesty’s image has changed three times, the effigy of Her Majesty has remained unchanged on Maundy coins and still bears the portrait prepared by Mary Gillick for the first coins issued in the year of her coronation in 1953.

Commenting on the forthcoming event, the Dean of Armagh, the Very Reverend Patrick Rooke said: “This is a great honour for us in Armagh. We are excited and certain that this will be a memorable and special service for all those involved.”