The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (; ga, Deoise Chill Dara agus Leithghlinn) is a

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 let ...

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 ...

in eastern

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 three

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 in 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 ...

of Dublin and is subject to 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 Ireland ...

.Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin
Catholic-Hierarchy''. Retrieved 2 June 2011. On 7 May 2013, the Most Reverend

Denis Nulty Denis Nulty KC*HS (born 7 June 1963) is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin since 2013. Early life Nulty was born in Slane, County Meath, on 7 June 1963, the youngest of five children to Den Nulty a ...

was appointed Bishop of the diocese.

Geographic remit

The united diocese includes virtually all of

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by ...

, most of

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the count ...

and parts of counties

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 ...

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

and Wicklow.Kildare and Leighlin Diocese: The Diocese
Retrieved on 9 September 2009. The largest towns in the diocese are

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic boundar ...

Edenderry Edenderry (; ) is a town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is near the borders with Counties Kildare, Meath and Westmeath. The Grand Canal runs along the south of Edenderry, through the Bog of Allen, and there is a short spur to the town ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

, Newbridge, Portarlington and

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above t ...

History

These two dioceses continued to be separate from their foundation until 1678, when, owing to the extreme tenuity of the episcopal revenues, the bishopric of Leighlin was given ''in commendam'' by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

to the

Bishop of Kildare The Bishop of Kildare was an episcopal title which took its name after the town of Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. The title is no longer in use by any of the main Christian churches having been united with other bishoprics. In the Roman Cath ...

. The Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the town of

. Today with the help of an enthusiastic lay people the Diocese is always busy in promoting faith of the youth in the local area. a Key example of this is by its active involvement in the John Paul II Awards. The Pope John Paul II Award was created to commemorate the late Pope John Paul II who was so committed to young people and who had such belief and confidence in them. The Award was launched by the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, His Excellency Most Rev Dr Giuseppe Lazzarotto on 7 November 2006 in the Diocese of Derry, Ireland. it is dedicated to Pope John Paul II due to the strong beliefs he had in the youth of the world today.

Deaneries and parishes

The united Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin is divided into seven

deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

, each divided into a number of

parish 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 ...

es or group parishes.Kildare and Leighlin: Parishes
''Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin''. Retrieved 22 April 2010.

Ordinaries

The following is a basic list of the Bishops of Kildare and Leighlin.
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 9 September 2009. * Edward Nolan (1834–1837) *

Francis Haly Francis Haly (1783–1855) was the Roman Catholic Bishop in Kildare and Leighlin from 1838 until his death in 1855. He was born in Doonane, in Co. Laois and entered Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláis ...

(1838–1855) *

James Walshe James Walshe was an Irish Catholic priest and bishop in Kildare and Leighlin; before becoming a bishop he was president of Carlow College, where he had previously been a professor. He was born 30 June 1803 in New Ross, County Wexford, to Phil ...

(1856–1888) * James Lynch, C.M. (1888–1896) * Patrick Foley (1897–1926) * Matthew Cullen (1927–1936) * Thomas Keogh (1936–1967) * Patrick Lennon (1967–1987) * Laurence Ryan (1987–2002) * James Moriarty (2002–2010) *

(2013–present)

References

* http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/country/IE.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Kildare and Leighlin

1694 establishments in Ireland Religion in County Carlow Religion in County Kildare Religion in County Kilkenny Religion in County Laois Religion in County Offaly Religion in County Wexford Religion in County Wicklow Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Dublin

Geographic remit

History

Deaneries and parishes

Ordinaries

See also

References