Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Ardagh–Clonmacnois

Ardachaden(sis)

The Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois is a Latin Catholic see covering most of Counties Longford and Leitrim plus parts of several neighbouring counties in Ireland, with the combined diocese dating to the 1756 union of the ancient sees of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Armagh and has been led by Bishop Paul Connell since 2023.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1756
Latin
Ardachaden(sis)
Patron
St. Mel
Annuario code
001000720

The see in figures

Catholics
76,626
Population
89,100
Catholic share
86.0%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
68
Catholics per priest
1,127
Extent
2,435 km²
Catholics per km²
31

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Paul Connell
Born
27 January 1958
Birthplace
Mullingar

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St. Mel's Cathedral, Longford stands in Ardagh, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Armagh

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Armagh.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Among Ireland's Latin Church dioceses is that of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. Its Latin title is Dioecesis Ardachadensis et Cluanensis, and Irish speakers know it as Deoise Ardach agus Chluain Mhic Nóis.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].