The Church of Ireland’s primate has delivered a Saint Patrick’s Day address in Washington National Cathedral as part of a tour of engagements in the US capital.

Archbishop McDowell called on the congregation of St Peter and St Paul to focus on Saint Patrick’s humility, discipleship, and service.

Leaning into the issue of immigration, he said that Patrick’s courage is echoed  by "those brave people who cross rivers and seas and mountains all over the world to live in a new country … there is something very deep inside them that tells them they were made for freedom so they risk much to go on their pilgrimage.”

He also warned against materialism and self-servitude, saying: “Patrick, like Jesus, seems to have dreaded that any person should be rich... materialism and the practical cares of life [can] close down like a coffin lid.”

Archbishop McDowell was invited to speak by Dean Randolph Marshall Hollerith.

Among his other engagements have been a townhall-style event on Capitol Hill with Archbishop Eamon Martin, and a visit to St Patrick’s Episcopal Church and its adjoining school in the city.