Timeline

WHEN Prince John came to Ireland in 1185 on of his ushers was a man named Nevill and in time, his descendents adopted Usher as the family name.

The name is still familiar today with Usher’s Island, Usher’s Quay and Usher’s Street all to be found on the south side of the River Liffey between Guinness Brewery and Christchurch Cathedral. In the intervening years, it was a prominent name in Irish history particularly in matters religious.
One of the more famous members of the family was James Usher, born in Dublin in 1581. Educated by his uncle the Archbishop of Armagh, he enrolled in the recently opened Trinity College and was one of the first people to graduate from there. Ordained in 1601, he soon became Professor of Divinity and Chancellor of St Patrick’s Cathedral. His first mark on Irish History was in connection with Trinity College.
When the Spanish and Irish were defeated at the Battle of Kinsale in 1603, the victors decided that they should erect a permanent memorial of their success. They collected what was then the huge sum of £1,800 and decided that the money should be spent in purchasing books which would be presented to the new Trinity College and this was how the world famous library began. Usher was given the task of buying the books and he thus can be said to have started the library at Trinity. While in London on this task, he became friends with Sir T Bodley who was on a similar mission for Oxford. On his death, Usher was buried in Westminster Abbey and his daughter sold his own library to the State. In 1661, this was presented to Trinity College where it still forms part of the Library which he started.
In religious affairs, he became Bishop of Meath and then Archbishop of Armagh. His great legacy was in preserving the independence of the Church of Ireland while still in agreement with the Church of England. He wrote much on church matters but we shall deal with just one the Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti in which he set out to prove the date of creation. The earliest Jewish calendars set creation in the year 3761 BC but by New Testament times, this was accepted as, first 5200 BC and later as, 3952 BC. Actually, that old method of dating years was continued in different parts of the world and in Russia, for example, only changed in the past 300 years. A decree by Peter the Great changed the numbering of the years and December 31st AM (Anno Mundi – Year of the World) was followed next day by January 1st 1700 AD (Anno Domini – Year of Our Lord).
Usher, like many others, took the stories and timescale of the Bible literally and followed it from Creation onwards. In his book, published in 1650, he calculated that creation took place 4004 years before the birth of Christ. Not only that but he stated that Sunday, October 23 4004 BC was the day that God created the world and timed it at 6pm in the evening. Some years later, a Bishop Lightfoot claimed that it was in fact 9am in the morning. Usher’s theory was widely accepted. So much so that from about 1700 onwards, his dates were printed in the margins of some editions of the King James Bible.
Given Bishop Ushers calculations then, God created Adam and Eve on October 28th 4004 BC – 6013 years ago this week.