The Diocese of Meath ( ga, Deoise na Mí) is a diocese of the Catholic Church that is located in the middle part of Ireland. It is one of eight

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

s of the ecclesiastical province of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

. Thomas Deenihan has been bishop of the diocese since 2 September 2018.

Geography

Meath diocese covers most of counties

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

and Westmeath, part of Offaly along with part of counties

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

, Louth, Dublin and

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

. The principal towns are Ashbourne,

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, Dunboyne, Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington, Kells, Mullingar, Navan and Tullamore.

Ecclesiastical history

Early history

Although there had been abbot-bishops of Clonard since the sixth century, the diocese of Clonard proper was not formally established until 1111. It was one of the twenty-four dioceses established by the Synod of Rathbreasail. The diocese covered roughly the western part of the

Kingdom of Meath Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all of ...

with the bishop's seat located at Clonard Abbey.

Lordship of Ireland

During the twelfth century the bishops of Clonard acquired most of Meath as their territory, and frequently used the title "bishop of Meath" or "bishop of the men of Meath". After Bishop Simon Rochfort transferred his seat from Clonard to Trim in 1202, the normal style became the "Bishop of Meath". From 1778 until the late 19th century it had its seat in Navan, County Meath.

19th and 20th centuries

Charles Stewart Parnell's relationship with Mrs Katharine O'Shea led to the Bishop of Meath having a letter read at masses in the diocese in condemnation of the relationship. As Parnell was popular, this caused a backlash which eventually led to the cathedral removing to Mullingar,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

permanently. The diocesan school, St. Finian's College also moved to Mullingar from Navan. The diocesan cathedral is Christ the King Cathedral, Mullingar, situated near the town centre.

Ordinaries

The following is a basic list of bishops of Meath since 1830: * John Cantwell (1830–1866) * Thomas McNulty (1866–1898) * Mathew Gaffney (1899–1906) * Laurence Gaughran (1906–1928) *

Thomas Mulvany Thomas Mulvany (1 March 1868 - 16 June 1943) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath, Ireland from 1929 to his death in 1943. Early life and ministry Mulvany was born in the townland of Skearke Moynalty, County Meath on the 1 March 1864 to ...

(1929–1943) * John Francis D'Alton (1943–1946) * John Anthony Kyne (1947–1966) * John McCormack (1968–1990) * Michael Smith (1990–2018) * Thomas Deenihan (18 June 2018 – present)

Vicars General

The serving Vicars general as of 2020 are Declan Hurley, administrator of Navan parish and Joseph Gallagher, Parish priest of Tullamore.

References

External links

Official website for the diocese
(GCatholic.org)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meath 552 establishments 6th-century establishments in Ireland Dioceses established in the 6th century Religion in County Meath Religion in County Offaly Religion in County Longford Religion in County Louth Religion in County Westmeath Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Armagh