The woman was sacked following a dispute over a series of text messages she had sent which were shown to Archbishop Martin, who is also the Primate of All Ireland.
Following a short investigation, she was sacked having being accused of bullying.
The woman, who had worked for the Archdiocese of Armagh for several years, was believed to have been extremely upset that she was sacked based on messages she sent on her private phone to someone else.
She took an unfair dismissal case against the Archbishop’s office and within a matter of weeks had been offered an undisclosed sum of money – believed to be almost £12,000 – to settle the case.
In a statement, the Archdiocese said it “doesn’t comment on personnel matters”.
The Archbishop’s office is based at Ara Coeli, a large stately-type home which is also the Primate’s residence, situated behind St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.
Details emerged after a group of whistleblowing parishioners claimed the church had handled the case “appallingly”.
“We heard about this and thought this has to be reported because it’s an absolute disgrace,” said one of the parishoners who asked not to be identified.
“There have been issues at the Archbishop’s office for some time now and several employees have left for other jobs.
“But the way this woman was treated was the last straw. She was a respected member of the parish and the diocese handled her case appallingly.
“It’s a total embarrassment for the diocese.”
According to the whistleblowers, they believe the money paid to the woman to settle her case was money completely “wasted” because of poor management of the case.
“How on earth this was allowed to happen is beyond us.
“To then sack her is disgraceful. Now we have heard they had to pay her thousands of pounds.
“That’s not money which is just grown from a tree – that’s money the congregation have given in to the church through the collection plate.
“That’s our money completely wasted to fix a problem caused by terrible management. It was completely avoidable.”
Another of the group told us they felt the public had a right to know.
“The people who attend church in the Archdiocese of Armagh have a right to know their hard-earned money has been spent on something that was completely avoidable,” said one woman.
“Everyone is aware there has been issues in his office. We don’t know what the issue is but they need to fix it, fast. This case has been an embarrassment for the Archbishop and the diocese.
“He’s the most senior Catholic in Ireland and shouldn’t have this type of nonsense attached to his office.”
After making a request to the Archdiocese of Armagh for comment, they told us: “Further to you query below, the Archdiocese does not comment on personnel matters which are subject to appropriate employment law and procedures.”
Eamon Martin – who is originally from Derry – was appointed Archbishop of Armagh by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
He was ordained in April 2013 in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, and on the retirement of Cardinal Seán Brady, succeeded as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland on September 8 2014.
He was elected President of the Irish Episcopal Conference in October 2014. He also serves as Chairman of the Council for Communications of the Conference.
In April 2019, in addition to his duties in Armagh, he was appointed by Pope Francis as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Dromore.