Brian McGee (born 8 October 1965,

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

) is the 11th

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Diocese of Argyll and the Isles in Scotland.Profile
catholic-hierarchy.org; accessed catholic-hierarchy.org; accessed 27 January 2016.

Early life

McGee was born in Greenock to Irish parents Seamus and Brighid McGee, who moved to Scotland after their marriage in 1964. He attended St Joseph's Primary School and Holy Cross Primary School, both in Greenock. After primary education he continued his studies at St. Vincent's College,

Langbank Langbank is a village on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is 9.3 miles/15 km northwest from Paisley (Renfrewshire) and 3.4 miles/5.5 km east from Port Glasgow (Inverclyde) on the A8. History Langbank ev ...

, and St. Mary's College, Blairs, a

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

Formation and further studies

McGee studied for the priesthood at

St. Patrick's College, Thurles Mary Immaculate College, (MIC) St. Patrick's Campus, Thurles is a third-level college of education in Thurles, County Tipperary. Formerly a seminary, the college specialises in humanities courses in accounting, business studies, Irish and relig ...

(in

County Tipperary, Ireland County Tipperary () is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland ...

) between 1983 and 1989, where he received a Certificate in Philosophy (Distinction) validated by the Irish Governments

National Council for Educational Awards The Higher Education and Training Awards Council () (HETAC), the legal successor to the ''National Council for Educational Awards'' (NCEA), granted higher education awards in Ireland beyond the university system from 2001 to 2012. HETAC was crea ...

and a Diploma in Theology (Distinction), accredited by Maynooth Pontifical University. In 2011 he completed a Master of Arts degree in Christian Spirituality (Distinction) from

Sarum College Sarum College is a centre of theological learning in Salisbury, England. The college was established in 1995 and sits within the cathedral close on the north side of Salisbury Cathedral. The Sarum College education programme ranges from shor ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Priesthood

McGee was ordained in 1989 as a priest for the Diocese of Paisley by Bishop

John Mone John Aloysius Mone (22 June 1929 – 14 October 2016) was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Paisley. Early life John Mone was fourth of the six children of Arthur Mone and Elizabeth Dunn. Born in Glasgow, he was raised in the Crosshill distri ...

. He subsequently held the following pastoral appointments: * Assistant Priest, St Charles Borromeo Parish, Paisley 1989–1995 * Assistant Priest, Holy Family Parish,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

1995–1997 * Parish Priest, St Joseph's Parish, Clarkston 1997–2007 * Spiritual Director, Scotus College, National Seminary 2007–2009 * Parish Priest, Holy Family Parish, Port Glasgow 2009–2015 In 2014 he was appointed

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Diocese of Paisley.

Episcopal career

He was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

on 28 December 2015 and consecrated by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Leo Cushley Leo William Cushley (born 18 June 1961) is a Catholic Church in Scotland, Scottish Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 2013. He previously served as head of the English language section of the Vatica ...

on 18 February 2016 in St Columba's Cathedral,

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

. Bishops

Joseph Toal Joseph Anthony Toal (born 13 October 1956) is a Scottish Catholic Church, Roman Catholic bishop. On 29 April 2014 he was named by Pope Francis as the fifth Bishop of Motherwell, having served as Bishop of Argyll and the Isles since 2008. Biogra ...

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, McGee's immediate predecessor, and John Keenan, bishop of his native diocese of Paisley, served as co-consecrators.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Brian Living people 1965 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland Roman Catholic bishops of Argyll and the Isles People from Greenock Alumni of Sarum College Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Thurles Scottish Roman Catholic bishops Scottish people of Irish descent