The Bishop of Emly ( ga, Imleach Iubhair; la, Imilicensis) was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the village of

Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is situated on the R515 ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, Republic of Ireland. In both the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, it has been united with other sees.

History

The monastery in Emly was founded by Saint Ailbe in the 6th century., ''Maps, Genealogies, Lists'', pp. 252–253. After his death there was a succession of abbots of Emly, a few of whom were also

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

as bishops. In 1118, the Diocese of Emly became one of the twenty-four dioceses established at the

Synod of Ráth Breasail The Synod of Ráth Breasail (also known as Rathbreasail) (Irish: ''Sionad Ráth Bhreasail'') was an Irish Catholic church council which took place in Ireland in 1111. It marked the transition of the Irish church from a monastic to a diocesan and pa ...

. The diocese's boundaries were formally set out by the

Synod of Kells The Synod of Kells (, ) took place in 1152, under the presidency of Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni, and continued the process begun at the Synod of Ráth Breasail (1111) of reforming the Irish church. The sessions were divided between the abbeys of ...

in 1152, and consisted of a small portion of west

, east

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

and southeast

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

. After the

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English administration at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage wa ...

there were parallel

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

s: one of the

and the other of the

. In the Church of Ireland, the see of Emly was united to the archepiscopal see of Cashel by an Act of Parliament in 1568. Under the Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833, the bishopric of Waterford and Lismore was united to the archbishopric of Cashel and Emly on 14 August 1833. On the death of Archbishop Laurence in 1838, the archepiscopal see lost its metropolitan status and became the bishopric of Cashel and Waterford. Through reorganisation in the Church of Ireland in 1976, the bishopric of Emly was transferred to the bishopric of Limerick and Killaloe. In the Roman Catholic Church, the see of Emly had an unsettled history from the mid 16th to the early 18th century. During that period, there were only three bishops and one

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

appointed, one of whom was executed. In 1695, James Stritch was nominated to be bishop, but is doubtful if he took possession of the see. The rest of the time there were long periods the see was vacant or administered by the archbishops of Cashel. On 10 May 1718,

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

decreed the union of the sees of Cashel and Emly., ''The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, volume 2'', p. 39., ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 428.

Pre-Reformation bishops

Post-Reformation bishops

Church of Ireland succession

Catholic succession

Notes

* Raymond Burke was bishop of both successions when they were reunited during the reign of

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

References

Bibliography

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Emly Bishops of Cashel and Ossory Diocese of Cashel and Ossory Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly