The

Most Reverend The Most Reverend (abbreviated as The Most Revd or The Most Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. It is a variant of the mor ...

John Joseph Clancy (1856–1912) 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 ...

clergyman who served as the

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but ...

from 1895 to 1912.Bishop John Joseph Clancy
''Catholic Hierarchy website''. Retrieved 4 April 2010. He was born on 23 December 1856 in Sooey,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was educated at the Marist Brothers school in sligo and Summerhill College, in 1876 he went to

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland. The college and national seminary on its grounds are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was of ...

to study for the priesthood and was ordained priest on 22nd June 1882.

Priestly ministry

His first served as a teacher at

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in north-west Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-bishop of Elphin, Laur ...

in Sligo for five years before becoming Professor of English Literature at

. Oratory, or the art of preaching was a particular skill of Clancy's and a separate Chair of Sacred Eloquence was created for him: his talents were sought for special occasions and, in 1895, he preached the sermon for the centenary of Maynooth.

Episcopal ministry

He was appointed

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of the

Diocese of Elphin The Diocese of Elphin () was established following the Synod of Rathbreasail in the year 1118. In that year the see for east Connacht was moved from Roscommon. Elphin was the traditional site of a monastic house established by St Patrick , althou ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Achantus on 12 January 1895. He succeeded as the

diocesan 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 associated ...

bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but ...

on 8 February 1895 and ordained bishop on 24 March 1895. He continued the work of his predecessor in building such edifices as were necessary for the development of the faith though in Clancy's episcopacy this was mostly schools rather than churches, convents or presbyteries. While on the staff of Maynooth College he had become friends with

Eugene O'Growney Eugene O'Growney (; born 25 August 1863 at Ballyfallon, Athboy, County Meath, died 18 October 1899 in Los Angeles, California), was an Irish priest and scholar, and a key figure in the Gaelic revival of the late 19th century. Early life and edu ...

and assisted in the development of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

, but took little part in active nationalist politics.https://www.dib.ie/index.php/biography/clancy-john-a1674 He died in office on 19 October 1912, aged 55 years old.

References

1856 births 1912 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Elphin Christian clergy from County Sligo Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth {{Ireland-RC-archbishop-stub