Prior to 1801, the Prayer Book of the Church of Ireland was nearly identical to that of the Church of England, and, then from 1801 until 1871 they were completely identical as the two Churches were united. After 1871, however, the Church of Ireland became independent and disestablished, and so developed its own Prayer Book in 1878. There was a revision in 1926, which is presented here. This book, and a more recent Alternative Prayer Book, were replaced by a single Book of Common Prayer in 2004.

Some of the changes made in 1878 include:

• Removal of all the "black-letter Saints" from the lectionary
• Additions in the Prayers and Thanksgivings
• De-emphasis of the Athanasian Creed
• In Baptism, parents may be sponsors of their own children
• Sponsors are not required in Confirmation
• A question is added to the catechism specifying that there is no transubstantiation of the bread and wine
• A number of services have been added, including a Thanksgiving for Harvest, Institution of Ministers, Consecration of a Church, Consecration of a Burial ground, and the Visitation of Prisoners
• Perhaps the most distinct feature is the adding of the Canons at the end, which tend to emphasize the 'Protestant' nature of this Church; the Church of Ireland has always seemed to wish to distinguish itself as clearly as possible from the dominant Roman Catholic Church
• There are a number of additional minor changes from the 1662 BCP.

The Book was revised, but not extensively, in 1926. St. Patrick and the Transfiguration were added to the calendar; the order of services was rearranged somewhat; The Commination and Visitation of the Sick Services were completely changed; the Visitation of Prisoners service removed, and a service for the Burial of Children was added.

After 1926, a number of minor changes were made, most of which were concerned with Ireland's gaining independence and leaving the Commonwealth.

The actual text presented here was taken from a Book published in 1936 by the APCK, the title page of which may be seen at left. Reference is made to a more recent edition for any changes made since that time. Prayers for the Royalty, however are from the 1936 Book, and so refer to George VI and his family.

We also have the entire book available as PDF graphics. There are bookmarks for navigation and extractable text; note, however, that the text has not been proofread and undoubtedly contains errors. See below for a link.