Kilkenny St Canice Cathedral SW 2007 08 28

The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of

Kingdom of Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

in the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

it remains a separate title, but in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

it has been united with other bishoprics.

History

The diocese of Ossory was one of the twenty-four dioceses established at the

Synod of Rathbreasail A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word meani ...

in 1111 and coincided with the ancient

(Osraige); this is unusual, as Christian dioceses are almost always named for cities, not for regions. The episcopal see has always been in Kilkenny, the capital of Ossory at the time of the Synod of Rathbreasail. The erroneous belief that the cathedral was originally further north at

Aghaboe Aghaboe () is a small village in County Laois, Ireland. It is located on the R434 regional road in the rural hinterland west of the town of Abbeyleix. It contains the ruins of the Abbey of Aghaboe which was founded by St. Canice in the Osso ...

is traced by John Bradley to a 16th-century misinterpretation of a 13th-century property transfer, combined with the fact that the abbey at the site which became

St Canice's Cathedral St Canice's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Cainneach, ), also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Dioc ...

, Kilkenny, was a

daughter house A dependency, among monastic orders, denotes the relation of a monastic community with a newer community which it has founded elsewhere. The relationship is that of the founding abbey or conventual priory, termed the motherhouse, with a monaster ...

Aghaboe Abbey The Abbey of Aghaboe is one of the most important of the abbeys and priories in County Laois. It was founded in the kingdom of Osraige by St. Canice in the 6th century. In his ''Vita Sancti Columbae'' (Life of St. Columba), Adomnán refers to ...

. Following the

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 ...

, there were parallel apostolic successions. In the

, the see of Ossory combined with Ferns and Leighlin to form the united bishopric of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin in 1835. In the

, the title continues as a separate bishopric. The bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny. The current Ordinary is the Most Reverend Niall Coll, who was appointed 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 ...

on 28 October 2022 and ordained bishop on 29 December 2022.

Pre-diocesan succession

The following list of bishops is inscribed in St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny and was listed on the Roman Catholic diocese's website. Bishops in the early Irish church ruled over a kingdom, in this case, Osraige or Ossory, but were also often associated with a particular monastery and may have been in some matters subordinate to its

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

. * St. Ciarán of Saigir (Kieran) (Feast date: 5 March) According to his vitae, St. Ciarán was ordained to the episcopate by

Pope Celestine I Pope Celestine I ( la, Caelestinus I) (c. 376 – 1 August 432) was the bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to his death on 1 August 432. Celestine's tenure was largely spent combatting various ideologies deemed heretical. He supported the missi ...

. * St. Carthage (Feast date: 5 March) * St. Medran (Feast date: 8 June) * St. Sedna (Feast date: 10 March) * St. Muccine (Feast date: 4 March) * St. Modomnoc (Feast date: 13 February) * St. Aengus Lamoidan (Feast date: 16 February) * St. Lachtin (Feast date: 19 March) * St. Colman Ua Eirc (Feast date: 22 April) * St. Cuillen (Feast date: 22 April) * St. Bochonna (Feast date: 13 January) * St. Finnech Duirn (Feast date: 2 February) * St. Eochan (Feast date: 18 April) * St. Killene Mac Lubne (d. 696) * Laidhgnen Mac Doinlanach (d. 739) * Tnuthgall (d. 771) * Mocoach (d. 788) * Cucathrach (d. 793) * Cothach (d. 812) * Fereoach (d. 814) * Conchobhar (d. 815) * Conmhach Ua Loichene (d. 826) * Inchalach (d. 832) * Anluan (d. 846) * Cormac Mac Eladhach (d. 867) * Ceran Departed (d. 868) * Sloidhedhach (d. 885) * Cormac (d. 907) * Fearchal (d. 919) * Fochartach (d. 941) * Colman (d. 948) * Confoelad (d. 951) * Donchadh (d. 971) * Fochartach (d. 1004) * Donchad Ua Celieachair (d. 1048) * Comhoran (d. 1066) * Ceallack Reamhar (d. 1079) * Ceallack Ua Caonhoran (d. 1108)

Pre-Reformation bishops

Bishops during the Reformation

Post-Reformation Roman Catholic succession

Church of Ireland succession

References

External links

GCatholic with Catholic incumbent bio links
{{Catholic Church in Ireland

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of ...

Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory Religion in County Kilkenny Bishops of Kildare or Ferns or Leighlin or of Ossory Bishops of Ossory Anglican bishops of Ossory