Diocese of Ossory
Ossorien(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Ossory, Ireland
The Diocese of Ossory is a Latin Church diocese covering most of County Kilkenny and parts of Counties Laois and Offaly in Ireland, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Dublin. Following the transfer of Bishop Niall Coll to Raphoe, Bishop Ger Nash of Ferns was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Ossory effective 25 January 2026.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1111
- Latin
- Ossorien(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Kieran (Ciaran of Saigir)
- Annuario code
- 001002485
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 84,244
- Priests
- 51
- Catholics per priest
- 1,652
- Extent
- 1,971 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 43
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
- Apostolic Administrator
- Niall Coll
- Born
- 25 August 1963
- Birthplace
- Letterkenny
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 Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny stands in Ossory, 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 Dublin
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Dublin.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of DublinDublin
- Diocese of FernsFerns
- Diocese of Kildare and LeighlinCarlow
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
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.
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].