Thomas Deenihan KC*HS (born 20 June 1967) 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 ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who has served as

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

since 2018.

Early life and education

Deenihan was born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, Cork on 20 June 1967. He attended secondary school at the North Monastery Christian Brothers School and studied for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Deenihan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cork and Ross in 1991.

Presbyteral ministry

Following ordination, Deenihan's first pastoral assignment was as

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 Glanmire. He was appointed to the teaching staff of St Goban's College,

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula i ...

in 1994, during which time he also served as curate in Ballydehob, Bantry, Kealkill and

Schull Schull or Skull ( ; or ''Scoil Mhuire'', meaning "Mary's School") is a town on the south-west coast of County Cork in Ireland. Located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the Municipal district (Ireland), municipal district of West Cork, ...

. As part of the Christian Leadership in Education Office programme, Deenihan also completed further studies at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, completing a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

in 1999 and subsequently a

Doctor of Education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

. He was appointed diocesan advisor for post-primary catechetics in 2003, and subsequently as diocesan secretary and education secretary three years later. On a national level, Deenihan served as general secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association from 2013 to 2016, and acted as executive secretary to the Council for Education and the Commission for Catholic Education and Formation of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference from 2016 to 2018. He also served as a member of the Honan Governors at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

and Mercy Care South, as diocesan

juridical person A juridical person is a legal person that is not a natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person such as a corporation, government agency, non-governmental organisation, or international organization (such as the ...

for Mercy University Hospital and as chair of the Board of Directors of the Christian Leadership in Education Office. Deenihan was appointed a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and member of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

in 2017.

Episcopal ministry

Deenihan was appointed Bishop-elect of Meath 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 18 June 2018. He 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,

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 2 September at the Cathedral of Christ the King,

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 ...

. Speaking at the funeral of Ashling Murphy on 18 January 2022, Deenihan referred to her murder as "a depraved act of violence" and called on people to respect each other.

References

External links

Bishop Thomas Deenihan
on Catholic-Hierarchy.org
Bishop Thomas Deenihan
on GCatholic Christian clergy from Cork (city) 1967 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Meath 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of the University of Hull {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub