Bishop of Clonmacnoise
Bishop of Clonmacnoise was the ordinary of the Roman Catholic episcopal see based at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland. The bishops of Clonmacnoise (Old Irish: Cluain Moccu Nóis) appear in the records for the first time in the 9th century, although inferior in status to the Abbot of Clonmacnoise until the reformation of the Irish Church in the 12th century. After the Reformation, there were several parallel bishops placed by the Church of Ireland until the Diocese of Clonmacnoise was merged with Diocese of Meath to form the Diocese of Meath and Kildare in 1569. In the Roman Catholic Church, separate bishops continued longer. The diocese came under the administration of the Bishop of Ardagh between 1688 and 1725, before the provision of Stephen MacEgan in 1725. Although MacEgan was translated to Meath in 1729, he continued to administer Clonmacnoise separately until his death in 1756, after which the see was finally merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.
List of abbots of Clonmacnoise
List of bishops of Clonmacnoise
| Tenure | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| d.713//Fáilbe Bec | ||
| d. 889// | Tuathchar | |
| d. 890 | Máel Odar | |
| d. 904 | Cairpre Cromm | |
| d. 919 | Loingsech | |
| d. 922 | Fer Dálach | |
| d. 942 | Dúnchad mac Suthainén | |
| d. 949 | Óenucán mac Écertaig | |
| d. 955 | Dúnadach mac Écertaig | |
| d. 971 | Tuathal | |
| d. 971 | Máenach mac Máel Míchil | |
| d. 979 | Flann mac Máel Míchil | |
| d. 998 | Conaing ua Coscraig | |
| d. 1001 | Máel Póil | |
| d. 1010 | Conaing mac Áedacáin | |
| d. 1037 | Flaithbertach mac Loingsig | |
| d. 1067 | Célechair Mugdornach mac Cuinn na mBocht | |
| d. 1104 | Gilla Críst Ua hEchtigirn | |
| d. 1105 | Muiredach Ua Máel Dúin | |
| c. 1111–1136 | Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig | Abbot of Roscommon and Bishop of Elphin. |
| x1152–1187 | Muirchertach Ua Máel Uidir | |
| ?–1207 | Cathal Ua Máel Eóin | |
| 1207–1214 | Muiredach Ua Muirecén | |
| 1214–1220 | Áed Ua Máel Eóin (I) | |
| 1220–1227 | Máel Ruanaid Ua Modáin | Resigned in 1227; died 1230. |
| 1227–1236 | Áed Ua Máel Eóin (II) | |
| 1236–c. 1252 | Thomas Fitz Patrick | |
| 1252–1278 | Tomás Ua Cuinn | O. F. M.. |
| 1280–1289 | Anonymous | O. F. M.. |
| elected 1282 | Gilbert | Blinded, and never consecrated. |
| 1290–1297 | Uilliam Ua Dubthaig | O. F. M.. |
| 1298–1302 | Uilliam Ua Finnéin | O. Cist.. |
| 1302–? | Domhnall Ua Bráein | O. F. M.. |
| ?–1337 | Lughaidh Ua Dálaigh | |
| 1337–x1368 | Henry | O. P.. |
| provided 1349 | Simon | O. P.; provided 11 May 1349; election did not take effect. |
| 1369–1371 | Richard Braybroke | |
| 1371–1380x | Hugh | |
| ?–1388 | Philip Ó Maoil | Resigned 30 January 1388; died 1420. |
| 1388–1397 | Milo Corr | O. F. M.. |
| 1397–1423 | Philip Nangle | O. Cist.. |
| provided 1423 | David Prendergast | O. Cist.; provided on 24 September 1423, but the provision did not take effect. |
| 1425–1444 | Cormac Mac Cochláin | |
| 1444–1487 | Seaán Ó Dálaigh | |
| 1449 | Thomas | On 27 October 1449 Pope Nicholas V allowed Bishop Thomas to hold this see in commendam; nothing more is known. |
| provided 1458 | William | O. S. A.; provided on 14 July 1458. Not known to have held the see physically, but acted as a suffragan in the diocese of Durham . |
| 1480–1486 | James | |
| 1487–1508 | Walter Blake | |
| c. 1509–1514 | Tomás Ó Maolalaidh | O. F. M.; translated to the archbishopric of Tuam. |
| 1516–1539 | Quintin Ó hUiginn | O. F. M.; also write Quintin O'Higgins |
| 1539 | Richard Hogan | O. F. M.. |
| 1539–c. 1555 | Florence Kirwan | O. F. M.. |
| 1556–1568 | Peter Wall | O. F. M..; for later Bishops of the Church of Ireland see Bishop of Meath |
| 1585–? | Alan Sullivan | |
| From 1630 | Terence Coghlan | Vicar Apostolic only. |
| 1647–1657 | Anthony MacGeoghegan | O. F. M.; translated to the bishopric of Meath. |
| From 1657 | William O'Shiel | Vicar Apostolic only. |
| From 1683 | Moriarty Kearney | Vicar Apostolic only. |
| 1688–c. 1698 | Gregory Fallon | |
| 1725–1729/1756 | Stephen MacEgan | O. P.; Although MacEgan was translated to Meath in 1729, he continued to administer Clonmacnoise separately until his death in 1756, after which the see was finally merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. |
References
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986), Handbook of British Chronology, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.), London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, ISBN 0-86193-106-8
- Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1984), Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History, Part II, New History of Ireland: Volume XI, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-821745-5
- Annette Kehnel, Clonmacnois the Church and Lands of St. Ciarán:Change and Continuity in an Irish Monastic Foundation (6th- to 16th Century), 1995, Transaction Publishers, Rutgers – State University, USA. ISBN 3-8258-3442-5.