Laurence Forristal (5 June 1931 – 10 October 2018) was an Irish Roman Catholic prelate, who served as the

Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remain ...

from 1981 to 2007.

Early life and education

Born to William Forristal and Kathleen Forristal (née Phelan) in

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

in 1931, Forristal was educated locally at Mercy Convent primary school and the Boys' National School in Thomastown, and at Mount St Joseph College, Roscrea. He studied for the priesthood at Clonliffe College, Dublin, and studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. He pursued further studies at the Propaganda Fide College in Rome and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

there as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

for the

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

on 21 December 1955.

Priestly Ministry

After ordination he was appointed by Archbishop

John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive governme ...

to work in the chancellery in Drumcondra, an appointment which was extended by McQuaid’s successor, Archbishop Dermot Ryan, until 1980. He combined this administrative work with parish ministry in Raheny and Finglas, becoming parish priest there in 1977. In the same year, he was appointed

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

which gave him a ringside seat for the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979.

Episcopal Ministry

He was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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 ''Rotdon'' on 3 December 1979 and received episcopal ordination on 20 January 1980. As Auxiliary Bishop in Dublin his role and knowledge of clerical child sex abuse was considered by Judge

Yvonne Murphy Yvonne Murphy was a judge of the Irish Circuit Court from 1998 to 2012. She has acted as chair of several Commissions of Investigation and an inquiry into various child abuse issues within the Catholic Church in Ireland. Early career Before pra ...

. Forristal's obituary noted that Murphy wrote of the then auxiliary bishop "Of Dublin’s eight auxiliaries, the report said “Bishop Forristal was the only bishop to unequivocally admit in evidence to the commission that he may not have handled matters satisfactorily". The following year, he was appointed the Diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Ossory on 30 June 1981. In 1994, he decided to close Ireland's oldest seminary, St Kieran's College as a result of falling numbers. Bishop Forristal retired on 14 September 2007, and assumed the title Bishop

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Ossory. His death was announced by one of his successors as

Dermot Farrell on 10 October 2018. He is buried in

St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny St Mary’s is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory. It is situated on James’s Street, Kilkenny, Ireland. Saint Mary’s was designed by William Deane Butler (c.1794-1857). He was chosen by Bishop William Kinsella (17 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forristal, Laurence 1931 births 2018 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory People from Thomastown Alumni of Clonliffe College Alumni of University College Dublin