The Diocese of Meath ( ga, Deoise na Mí) is a

diocese 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 associ ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

that is located in the middle part of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. 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 Alexandri ...

s of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

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 ...

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

Geography

Meath diocese covers most of counties Meath and

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

, part of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

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 mee ...

, Louth,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

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, Bal ...

. 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 Dunboyne () is a town in Meath, Ireland. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitants. Location Dunboyne is centred on the ...

Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington () is a census town in East Meath, County Meath, Ireland, comprising the adjoining villages of Laytown, Bettystown and Mornington. It had a population of 5,597 at the 2002 census, 10,889 at the 2011 census, and ...

, Kells,

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 Westmeath ...

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nb ...

and

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

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 o ...

with the bishop's seat located at

Clonard Abbey Clonard Abbey (Irish, ''Cluain Eraird'', or ''Cluain Iraird'', "Erard's Meadow") was an early medieval monastery situated on the River Boyne in Clonard, County Meath, Ireland. Early history The monastery was founded in about 520 by Saint F ...

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 Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), ...

in 1202, the normal style became the "Bishop of Meath". From 1778 until the late 19th century it had its seat in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

19th and 20th centuries

Charles Stewart Parnell's relationship with Mrs

Katharine O'Shea Katharine Parnell (née Wood; 30 January 1846 – 5 February 1921), known before her second marriage as Katharine O'Shea, and usually called Katie O'Shea by friends and Kitty O'Shea by enemies, was an English woman of aristocratic background ...

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 A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

removing to

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

permanently. The diocesan school, St. Finian's College also moved to Mullingar from

. 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 (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

parish and Joseph Gallagher,

Parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

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