Paul Connell (born 27 January 1958) is 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 ...

priest who was appointed Bishop-elect of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on 5 April 2023.

Early life and education

Connell was born in

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeat ...

, County Westmeath, on 27 January 1958, the second of four children to Thomas and Philomena Connell. He attended primary school at St Mary's CBS and secondary school at

St Finian's College St Finian's College is a secondary school, the diocesan school of the Diocese of Meath. It is located in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland, and is under the patronage of The Most Reverend Thomas Deenihan, Bishop of Meath. Rev. Fr. Paul Conn ...

, completing his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

in 1975. Connell studied for the priesthood at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth 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. ...

, completing a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Ireland in 1978 and a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

from the Pontifical University in 1981. The following year, he was recipient of the Gilmartin prize in

ecclesiastical history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

from St Patrick's College. Connell was ordained to the priesthood for the

Diocese of Meath The Diocese of Meath ( ga, Deoise na Mí) is an Irish diocese which took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it still exists as a separate diocese, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other ...

on 20 June 1982.

Presbyteral ministry

Following ordination, Connell's first pastoral appointment was a brief attachment to

Rochfortbridge Rochfortbridge () is a village in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located at the intersection of the R400 road (Ireland), R400 and the R446 road, R446 (formerly the N6 road (Ireland), N6) roads. As of the 2016 cen ...

, before his appointment to the teaching staff at

. He subsequently completed a

higher diploma in education A Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom. It is awarded after two years of full-time study at a university or other higher education institution. Rated as a Level 5 qualification on both the ...

in 1983. Connell was appointed vice-president of the college in 1989, and subsequently as its president and principal in 1998. During his presidency, the college transitioned from a diocesan all-male boarding school to a co-educational secondary school in 2003, while its boarding school closed in 2007. He completed a Master of Arts in

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...

at the

National University of Ireland, Maynooth The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It w ...

between 1992 and 1994, and was subsequently awarded a doctorate in history by the university in 2002. Connell also lectured part-time in

at the

Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy Milltown may refer to: * Mill town, a settlement that developed around one or more mills Places Canada *Milltown, New Brunswick * Milltown, Newfoundland and Labrador * Milltown, Ontario Ireland * Milltown, Ballymore, a townland in Ballymore civ ...

before its closure in 2015, and has published a number of works in the area of local history. In addition to his presidency at St Finian's College, he served as president of the Secretariat for Secondary Schools between 2013 and 2018. Following his appointment as executive secretary of the Council for Education of the

Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference ( ga, Comhdháil Easpag Caitliceach Éireann) is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland. The conference meets a number of times a year in Maynooth which is the location of St Patr ...

in October 2018, Connell resigned as principal of St Finian's College in January 2019. He was appointed chancellor of the

in 2020 and as

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Multyfarnham Multyfarnham or Multyfarnam () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. History First founded in 1268, the Franciscan monastery at Multyfarnham is still home to a community of friars. During the English conquest of Ireland in the 17th cent ...

in August 2021. Connell also served as chaplain to the Cluain Lir

community nursing Community nursing is nursing care delivered outside acute hospitals, for example in the home, within General Practice facilities, in community hospitals, in police custody, at a school or in a care home. In the UK, a community nurse needs a degree ...

unit at St Mary's Hospital in

, and gained summer pastoral experience in the United States, ministering at All Saints and St Gabriel's parishes in the

Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami ( la, Archidioecesis Miamiensis, es, Arquidiócesis de Miami, ht, Achidyosèz Miami) is a particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastical territory consists of Broward County, ...

and at St Gregory's parish in the Diocese of San Diego.

Episcopal ministry

Connell was appointed Bishop-elect of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

on 5 April 2023. In his first address following his appointment, he emphasised the need to not only care and respect others, but also to love and respect the world. Connell was consecrated by the

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

and

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...

Eamon Martin Eamon Martin KC*HS (born 30 October 1961) is a prelate of the Catholic Church from Northern Ireland who has been Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland since 2014. Early life and education Martin was born in Derry, Northern Irela ...

, on 18 June at

St Mel's Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Mel is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, located in the town of Longford in Ireland. Built between 1840 and 1856, with the belfry and portico as later additions, it has been ...

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 ...

References

External links

Father Paul Connell
on

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in Ka ...

Bishop-elect Paul Connell
on GCatholic {{DEFAULTSORT:Coll, Niall 1963 births Living people People from Mullingar Irish Roman Catholic theologians Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory People educated at St Eunan's College Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical Irish College alumni Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Bishops appointed by Pope Francis 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Westmeath