The Most Reverend John Joseph Clancy (1856–1912) was an Irish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

clergyman who served as the Bishop of Elphin from 1895 to 1912.Bishop John Joseph Clancy
''Catholic Hierarchy website''. Retrieved 4 April 2010. He was born on 23 December 1856 in

Sooey Sooey (, meaning abounding in the plant sorrel), is a village in County Sligo in Ireland. The village is situated near Riverstown, on the R284 road which runs between Sligo and Leitrim village in County Leitrim. It is the burial place of Provis ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was educated at the Marist Brothers school in sligo and Summerhill College, in 1876 he went to

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

to study for the priesthood and was ordained priest on 22nd June 1882.

Priestly Ministry

His first served as a teacher at Summerhill College in Sligo for five years before becoming Professor of English Literature at

. Oratory, or the art of preaching was a particular skill of Clancy's and a separate Chair of Sacred Eloquence was created for him: his talents were sought for special occasions and, in 1895, he preached the sermon for the centenary of Maynooth.

Episcopal Ministry

He was appointed

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

of the Diocese of Elphin and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Achantus on 12 January 1895. He succeeded as the

Diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Bishop of Elphin on 8 February 1895 and ordained bishop on 24 March 1895. He continued the work of his predecessor in building such edifices as were necessary for the development of the faith though in Clancy's episcopacy this was mostly schools rather than churches, convents or presbyteries. While on the staff of Maynooth College he had become friends with Eugene O'Growney and assisted in the development of the Gaelic League, but took little part in active nationalist politics. https://www.dib.ie/index.php/biography/clancy-john-a1674 He died in office on 19 October 1912, aged 55 years old.

References

1856 births 1912 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Elphin Christian clergy from County Sligo Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth {{RC-archbishop-stub