Bishop of Clonmacnoise

Bishop of Clonmacnoise was the ordinary of the Roman Catholic episcopal see based at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland. The bishops of Clonmacnoise (Old Irish: Cluain Moccu Nóis) appear in the records for the first time in the 9th century, although inferior in status to the Abbot of Clonmacnoise until the reformation of the Irish Church in the 12th century. After the Reformation, there were several parallel bishops placed by the Church of Ireland[citation needed] until the Diocese of Clonmacnoise was merged with Diocese of Meath to form the Diocese of Meath and Kildare in 1569. In the Roman Catholic Church, separate bishops continued longer. The diocese came under the administration of the Bishop of Ardagh between 1688 and 1725, before the provision of Stephen MacEgan in 1725. Although MacEgan was translated to Meath in 1729, he continued to administer Clonmacnoise separately until his death in 1756, after which the see was finally merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.

List of abbots of Clonmacnoise edit

List of bishops of Clonmacnoise edit

Tenure Incumbent Notes
d. 713 Fáilbe Bec
d. 889 Tuathchar
d. 890 Máel Odar
d. 904 Cairpre Cromm
d. 919 Loingsech
d. 922 Fer Dálach
d. 942 Dúnchad mac Suthainén
d. 949 Óenucán mac Écertaig
d. 955 Dúnadach mac Écertaig
d. 971 Tuathal
d. 971 Máenach mac Máel Míchil
d. 979 Flann mac Máel Míchil
d. 998 Conaing ua Coscraig
d. 1001 Máel Póil
d. 1010 Conaing mac Áedacáin
d. 1037 Flaithbertach mac Loingsig
d. 1067 Célechair Mugdornach mac Cuinn na mBocht
d. 1104 Gilla Críst Ua hEchtigirn
d. 1105 Muiredach Ua Máel Dúin
c. 1111–1136 Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig Abbot of Roscommon and Bishop of Elphin.
x1152–1187 Muirchertach Ua Máel Uidir
?–1207 Cathal Ua Máel Eóin
1207–1214 Muiredach Ua Muirecén
1214–1220 Áed Ua Máel Eóin (I)
1220–1227 Máel Ruanaid Ua Modáin Resigned in 1227; died 1230.
1227–1236 Áed Ua Máel Eóin (II)
1236–c. 1252 Thomas Fitz Patrick
1252–1278 Tomás Ua Cuinn O. F. M.
1280–1289 Anonymous O. F. M..
elected 1282 Gilbert Blinded, and never consecrated.
1290–1297 Uilliam Ua Dubthaig O. F. M..
1298–1302 Uilliam Ua Finnéin O. Cist.
1302–? Domhnall Ua Bráein O. F. M..
?–1337 Lughaidh Ua Dálaigh
1337–x1368 Henry O. P.
provided 1349 Simon O. P.; provided 11 May 1349; election did not take effect.
1369–1371 Richard Braybroke
1371–1380x Hugh
?–1388 Philip Ó Maoil Resigned 30 January 1388; died 1420.
1388–1397 Milo Corr O. F. M..
1397–1423 Philip Nangle O. Cist..
provided 1423 David Prendergast O. Cist.; provided on 24 September 1423, but the provision did not take effect.
1425–1444 Cormac Mac Cochláin
1444–1487 Seaán Ó Dálaigh
1449 Thomas On 27 October 1449 Pope Nicholas V allowed Bishop Thomas to hold this see in commendam; nothing more is known.
provided 1458 William O. S. A.; provided on 14 July 1458. Not known to have held the see physically, but acted as a suffragan in the diocese of Durham .
1480–1486 James
1487–1508 Walter Blake
c. 1509–1514 Tomás Ó Maolalaidh O. F. M.; translated to the archbishopric of Tuam.
1516–1539 Quintin Ó hUiginn O. F. M.; also write Quintin O'Higgins
1539 Richard Hogan O. F. M..
1539–c. 1555 Florence Kirwan O. F. M..
1556–1568 Peter Wall O. F. M..; for later Bishops of the Church of Ireland see Bishop of Meath
1585–? Alan Sullivan
From 1630 Terence Coghlan Vicar Apostolic only.
1647–1657 Anthony MacGeoghegan O. F. M.; translated to the bishopric of Meath.
From 1657 William O'Shiel Vicar Apostolic only.
From 1683 Moriarty Kearney Vicar Apostolic only.
1688–c. 1698 Gregory Fallon
1725–1729/1756 Stephen MacEgan O. P.; Although MacEgan was translated to Meath in 1729, he continued to administer Clonmacnoise separately until his death in 1756, after which the see was finally merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.

References edit

  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986), Handbook of British Chronology, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.), London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, ISBN 0-86193-106-8
  • Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1984), Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History, Part II, New History of Ireland: Volume XI, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-821745-5
  • Annette Kehnel, Clonmacnois the Church and Lands of St. Ciarán:Change and Continuity in an Irish Monastic Foundation (6th- to 16th Century), 1995, Transaction Publishers, Rutgers – State University, USA. ISBN 3-8258-3442-5.