The Diocese of Ferns ( ga, Deoise Fhearna) 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 south-eastern Ireland. 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 Ferns
Catholic-Hierarchy''. Retrieved 2 June 2011. The incumbent Ordinary is Gerard Nash.

Geographical remit

The See covers most of

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí C ...

and some 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 ...

and

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by ...

. The major towns are

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

, Gorey,

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it t ...

and

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 ...

, along with its namesake town of

Ferns A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

. It is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin The Archdiocese of Dublin ( ga, Ard-Deoise Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the eastern part of Ireland. Its archepiscopal ...

History

W. H. Grattan Flood Chevalier William Henry Grattan Flood (baptised 1 November 1857 – 6 August 1928) was a noted Irish author, composer, musicologist, and historian. As a writer and ecclesiastical composer, his personal contributions to Irish music produced endu ...

, author of the ''History of the Diocese of Ferns'',Grattan Flood, ''History'', title page. illustrates the origin of the Diocese, by stating:

Ordinaries

The following is a list of the most recent post-

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Roman Catholic bishops and vicars apostolic.Diocese of Ferns
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 7 September 2009. * Thomas Furlong (1857–1875) * Michael Warren (1876–1884) * James Browne (1884–1917) * William Codd (1917–1938) * James Staunton (1938–1963) *

Donal Herlihy Donal Herlihy (1908–1983) was an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns from 1964 to 1983. He was born in Knocknagree, Co. Cork (within the jurisdiction of Kerry diocese) in 1908 and studied ...

(1964–1983) * Brendan Oliver Comiskey, SS.CC. (1984–2002) *

Denis Brennan Denis Brennan (born 20 June 1945 in Enniscorthy, County Wexford) is an Irish Catholic bishop. He was Bishop of Ferns from 2006 until his retirement in 2021. Biography He received his primary education in Kiltealy National School, and his se ...

(2006–2021) * Gerard Nash (2021–present)

Sex abuse controversy

The October 2005 Report of the Ferns Inquiry has outlined the serious levels of clerical sex abuse in the diocese since the 1960s. It strongly criticised the former bishops of Ferns,

and

Brendan Comiskey Brendan Comiskey (born August 13, 1935), is the Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Ferns. He was born in Clontibret, County Monaghan, Ireland. He was ordained a priest of the little known Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus ...

for their inability to deal with the allegations of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

made against a number of priests. Comiskey resigned as Bishop on 1 April 2002.

References

Sources

*Grattan Flood, W.H. ''History of the Diocese of Ferns''. Waterford: Downey & Co., 1916.

External links

Ferns.ie – Official site
(GCatholic.org)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferns

Ferns, Diocese of 6th-century establishments in Ireland Religion in County Wexford Enniscorthy Religion in County Wicklow Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Dublin