'George Browne (died 1556) was an English Augustinian who was appointed by Henry VIII of England to the vacant Episcopal see of Dublin.
He is said to have recommended himself to the king by advising the poor in distress about the religious changes to make their applications solely to Christ.
[2] He complained of their resistance to his injunctions and was compelled to send round his own servants in order to cancel the Pope's name in the service books.
A warning from the King stirred him up to more demonstrative action, and he had all holy relics preserved in Christ Church cathedral, including St. Patrick's crozier, known as the "Staff of Jesus", gathered into a heap and burned.
Opposition to these measures was offered by the clergy, who claimed the power of voting in their own house upon bills which had passed the Irish commons.
The Lord Deputy Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane was his enemy, and treated him with contempt, on one occasion putting him in prison.
At the same time the Primacy of Ireland, the ancient dignity of the see of Armagh, was claimed by Browne, and transferred by royal patent to Dublin.
John Bale, who arrived in Ireland as Bishop of Ossory at the same time as Goodacre, thought Browne himself remiss, and they quarrelled as soon as he was consecrated.
Under Henry's immediate successor, Edward VI of England, Browne introduced that monarch's new liturgy into the cathedral – the first Book of Common Prayer.
[3] James Ussher describes him in Memoirs of the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Ireland as: "George Browne is a man of cheerful countenance; in his acts and conduct, plain and downright; to the poor, merciful and compassionate, pitying the state and condition of the souls of the people and advising them, when he was the provincial of the Augustine order in England, to make their application solely to Christ; which advice coming to the ears of Henry VIII., he became a favourite, and was made an archbishop of Dublin.