Gerard Nash (born 27 February 1959) is an Irish Catholic bishop. He was appointed

Bishop of Ferns The Bishop of Ferns () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...

on 11 June 2021 and consecrated on 5 September 2021.

Early life

Nash was born in Glandree, in the parish of Tulla,

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, on 27 February 1959, one of four children to the late Tommy and Mary Nash. He has three sisters, one of whom predeceased him. Nash attended St Joseph's Secondary School in Tulla, where he completed his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

. He then studied business and economics at the National Institute of Higher Education in Limerick, and worked afterwards in the manufacturing industry. He subsequently attended

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for the Diocese of Killaloe at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on 15 June 1991.

Presbyteral ministry

Nash's first pastoral assignment was as chaplain of the

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 2022 it had a population of 5,542. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Crónán of Roscrea, Saint Crónán of Roscrea, p ...

, and as priest responsible for the local youth centre. After five years, he was appointed

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of Clarecare, a non-profit enterprise which provides a range of social services to people in

, a position he held until 2003. Nash was also appointed

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

in Corofin in 1996, before being appointed resident priest in 2003, as part of the first grouping of parishes in the Diocese of Killaloe. He remained as resident priest in the newly created Imeall Bóirne pastoral area when he moved to

Crusheen Crusheen () is a small village in County Clare, Ireland, in the civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan). Location The village is 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis on the R458 road (Ireland), R458 road to Gort. It is in ...

in 2007. Nash was appointed Diocesan Secretary in 2010, while continuing his ministry in Imeall Bóirne. He was appointed

episcopal vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

for pastoral development for the diocese in 2016.

Episcopal ministry

Nash was appointed Bishop-elect of Ferns 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 11 June 2021, succeeding Denis Brennan. He was consecrated by the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

, Dermot Farrell, on 5 September in St. Aidan's Cathedral,

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountains and Ireland's longest beach, Curracloe. The Plac ...

Early life

Presbyteral ministry

Episcopal ministry

References

See also