Paul Connell (born 27 January 1958) is 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 ...

priest who was appointed Bishop-elect of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on 5 April 2023.

Early life and education

Connell was born in

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

, County Westmeath, on 27 January 1958, the second of four children to Thomas and Philomena Connell (née Begley). He attended primary school at Scoil Mhuire CBS and secondary school at St Finian's College, completing 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 ...

in 1975. Connell studied for the priesthood 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 ...

, completing a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Ireland in 1978 and a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

from the Pontifical University in 1981. The following year, he was recipient of the Gilmartin prize in

ecclesiastical history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...

from St Patrick's College. Connell was ordained to the priesthood for the

Diocese of Meath The Diocese of Meath () is an Irish diocese which took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it still exists as a separate diocese, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other dioceses. Histor ...

on 20 June 1982.

Presbyteral ministry

Following ordination, Connell's first pastoral appointment was a brief attachment to

Rochfortbridge Rochfortbridge () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. The village is located at the intersection of the R400 and the R446 (formerly the N6) roads. As of the 2016 census, the population of Rochfortbridge was 1,473. History Rochfortb ...

, before his appointment to the teaching staff at St Finian's College. He subsequently completed a

higher diploma in education A Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) is a higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and Sweden. Overview United Kingdom The Diploma is awarded after two years of full-time study (or equivalent) at a university or other higher educa ...

in 1983. Connell was appointed vice-president of the college in 1989, and subsequently as its president and principal in 1998. During his presidency, the college transitioned from a diocesan all-male boarding school to a co-educational secondary school in 2003, while its boarding school closed in 2007. He completed a Master of Arts in

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural history, cultural and social history, social aspects of history. Local history is not mer ...

at the

National University of Ireland, Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

between 1992 and 1994, and was subsequently awarded a doctorate in history by the university in 2002. Connell also lectured part-time in

at the

Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy The Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy was a Jesuit-run institution of higher education and research, located in Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland. From November 1989, when it was granted designated status under the National Council ...

before its closure in 2015, and has published a number of works in the area of local history. In addition to his presidency at St Finian's College, he served as president of the Secretariat for Secondary Schools between 2013 and 2018. Following his appointment as executive secretary of the Council for Education of the

Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference () is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland. The conference meets a number of times a year in Maynooth which is the location of St Patrick's College, Ireland's national seminary. ...

in October 2018, Connell resigned as principal of St Finian's College in January 2019. He was appointed chancellor of the

in 2020 and as

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

Multyfarnham Multyfarnham or Multyfarnam () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, it had a population of 460 people. History First founded in 1268, the Franciscan monastery at Multyfarnham is still home to a community of fria ...

in August 2021. Connell also served as chaplain to the Cluain Lir

community nursing Community nursing is nursing care delivered outside Acute (medicine)#Acute care, acute hospitals, for example in the home, within General Practice facilities, in community hospitals, in Arrest, police custody, at a school or in a Nursing home, care ...

unit at St Mary's Hospital in Mullingar, and gained summer pastoral experience in the United States, ministering at All Saints and St Gabriel's parishes in the

Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami (, , ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in South Florida in the United States. It is the metropolitan see for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which ...

and at St Gregory's parish in the Diocese of San Diego.

Episcopal ministry

Connell was appointed Bishop-elect of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise 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 5 April 2023. In his first address following his appointment, he emphasised the need to not only care and respect others, but also to love and respect the world. Connell was consecrated by the

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

and

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior ...

Eamon Martin Eamon Columba Martin KC*HS (born 30 October 1961) is an Irish Catholic prelate from Northern Ireland who has served as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland since 2014. Early life and education Martin was born in Pennyburn, Derry ...

, on 18 June at

St Mel's Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Mel is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, located in the town of Longford in Ireland. Built between 1840 and 1856, with the belfry and portico as later additions, it has b ...

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

References

External links

Father Paul Connell
on

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

Bishop-elect Paul Connell
on GCatholic {{DEFAULTSORT:Coll, Niall 1963 births Living people People from Mullingar Irish Roman Catholic theologians People educated at St Eunan's College Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical Irish College alumni Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Bishops appointed by Pope Francis 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Westmeath Roman Catholic bishops of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise