Cornelius O'Keeffe (); –4 May 1737) was an Irish

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 ...

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who served as the

Bishop of Limerick The Bishop of Limerick is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church it still continues as a sepa ...

from 1720 to 1737.

Biography

O'Keeffe's family had been expelled from their property at Glanville during the 1650s, eventually settling at Drumkeene, County Limerick, where he was born. His parents were Honor O'Daly and "Dionysii" O'Keeffe, and he was the youngest of six boys. The family descendants were in Templeglantine until the 1950s' and claimed The Fermoy O'Keeffe Chieftains connection right up to the end. He received the tonsure at the hands of the

Archbishop of Bordeaux The Archdiocese of Bordeaux (–Bazas) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Burdigalensis (–Bazensis)''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bordeaux (–Bazas)''; Occitan: ''Archidiocèsi de Bordèu (–Vasats)'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or a ...

on 29 March 1686, having studied at

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, or both. He was listed as an Irish exile in Brittany in 1710, when he was nominated for the rectorship of St. Similien's parish,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. He stayed there for ten years before returning to Ireland on his appointment as bishop of the Diocese of Limerick by

papal brief A papal brief or breve (from the Latin "''breve'', meaning "short") is a formal document emanating from the pope. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 March 1431 – 23 Februa ...

on , succeeding John O'Molony. In common with all Irish bishops of his day he was nominated by James III. The O'Keeffe Chalice, dating from about 1735, was made for him."The O'Keeffe Chalices, Paten & Altar Stone"
/ref> He was succeeded by Robert Lacy.

References

External links

* https://archive.org/stream/irishecclesiast04unkngoog#page/n360/mode/2up * https://web.archive.org/web/20120203225516/http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Irish_Colleges_on_the_Continent * https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011445/http://www.okeefeclan.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=586%3Aokeeffe-chalices&catid=29%3Aancient&Itemid=59 {{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Cornelius 1670s births 1737 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Roman Catholic bishops of Limerick Christian clergy from County Limerick