Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne

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The Diocese of Cloyne (Irish: Deoise an Chluain ) is located in the County of Cork in the South of Ireland. It has its beginnings in the monastic settlement of Saint Colman at Cloyne in East Cork. A round tower and pre-reformation cathedral still stand at this site. The diocese was erected in A.D. 580[1].

Colman, son of Lenin, lived from 522 to 604 A.D. He had been a poet and bard at the court of Caomh, King of Munster at Cashel. It was St. Brendan of Clonfert that induced Colman to become Christian. He embraced his new faith eagerly and studied at the monastery of St. Jarleth in Tuam. He later preached in East Cork and established his own monastic settlement at Cloyne about 560 A.D. His Feast Day is celebrated on November 24.

Cloyne was later to become the center of an extensive diocese in Munster. For eight centuries it was the residence of the Bishops of Cloyne and the setting for the Cathedral.

The troubled history of Ireland from the Norman to the Penal Times was reflected in the affairs of the Church. The Dioceses of Cloyne and Cork were united from 1429 to 1747. From 1747 to 1850 the Diocese of Cloyne and Ross were united. Since 1769 the Bishops of Cloyne, with the exception of Dr. Murphy, resided at Cobh (formerly Queenstown) on the north side of Cork Harbour. When the Diocese of Cloyne and Ross were separated in 1850 Bishop William Keane planned a cathedral for Cobh to replace the inadequate parish Church of the time. Cobh Cathedral was begun in 1868.

The years 1857 to 1867 were spent in planning the new project. The architects E.W. Pugin & George Ashlin were chosen for the Cathedral and the result was one of the finest gems of neo-gothic architecture in Ireland. The building was completed in 1915. The Diocese today, under the pastoral care of Bishop John Magee, stretches over most of the county of Cork, with the exception of the city and West Cork. Its 46 parishes run from Mitchelstown in the north-east to Rockchapel in the north-west, from Macroom in the south-west to Youghal in the south-east. The population is over 120,000 people.

Contents

[edit] Ordinaries

  • Peter Creagh (1676 - 1693)
  • John Baptist Sleyne (1693 - 1712)
  • Donatus McCarthy (1712 – 1726)
  • Thaddeus McCarthy (1727 – 1747)
  • John O’Brien (1747 – 1769)
  • Mathew McKenna (1769 - 1791)
  • William Coppinger (1791 - 1830)
  • Michael Collins (1830 - 1832)
  • Bartholomew Crotty (1833 - 1846)
  • David Walsh (1846 - 1849)
  • Timothy Murphy (1851 - 1856)
  • William Keane (1857 - 1874)
  • John McCarthy (1874 – 1893)
  • Robert Browne (1894 - 1935)
  • James J. Roche (1935 -1956)
  • John Ahern (1957 - 1987)
  • John Magee S.P.S. (1987 - )

For Bishops prior to 1676, see also List of Roman Catholic Bishops of Cloyne

[edit] Parishes

The Cathedral Parish of the Diocese of Cloyne is Cobh. This consists of the entire Great Island in Cork Harbour, including Rushbrooke & Ballymore. The second mensal parish is Fermoy.

The other parishes of the diocese in alphabetical order are as follows

[edit] Notable clergy

The distinguished Catholic novelist Patrick Augustine Sheehen better know as Canon Sheehan of Doneraile produced and extraordinary literary oeuvre of essays, short stories, poems and novels between 1881 and 1913.

Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne was born in Charleville in 1864 and ordained for the diocese of Cloyne in 1890. Nominated Professor of Moral Theology in Maynooth in 1895, he was promoted to President of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1903. In 1912 he was nominated Coadjutor of Archbishop Carr of Melbourne and succeeded him in 1917.

Archbishop Thomas Croke was born in 1824 at Castlecor and ordained for the diocese of Cloyne at Paris in 1824. Having been Professor in the Irish College in Paris for almost twelve years, he returned to Ireland and was appointed President of St. Colman's College, Fermoy in 1858. In 1865, he became Parish Priest of Doneraile. Nominated Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1870, he was translated to the Archdiocese of Cashel in Ireland in 1875. He died in 1902.

Bishop Robert Browne born in Charleville in 1844; he was ordained for the diocese of Cloyne in 1869. Following a brief period as Professor in St. Colman's College, Fermoy, he was appointed Dean and Professor of Greek at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, in 1870. In 1885, he succeeded as President of the College. During his tenure he completed the building of the College Chapel. Nominated Bishop of Cloyne in 1894, his principal task was to complete the building of Cobh Cathedral which he consecrated in 1919. He died in 1935.

The Very Reverend Dr. Bartholomew MacCarthy, Celtic scholar and editor of the Stowe Missal, born at Conna, Ballynoe, Co. Cork, 12, Dec., 1843; died at Inniscarra, Co. Cork, 6 March., 1904. He was educated at Mount Melleray Seminary, Co. Waterford, and at St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork, afterwards studying at Rome, where he was ordained in 1869. On his return to Ireland he was appointed professor of Classics at St. Colman's, where he remained about three years. He then went as curate to Mitchelstown and afterwards to Macroom and Youghal. In 1895 he was appointed parish priest of Inniscarra, near Cork, where he died.

Bishop John O'Brien, celtic scholar, antiquarian and lexicographer, born Ballyovoddy, Kildorrery, Co. Cork in 1701, Doctor of Laws of the University of Toulouse, ordained in 1727, chaplain to the Spanish Embassy in London 1737, appointed Bishop of Cloyne and Ross on 10 January 1748. Published the Focaloir Gaodhilge-Sax-Bhéarlain 1768. John O'Brien died in exile at Lyon in France on 13 March 1769 and was buried in the Church of St-Martin-d'Ainay.

The Very Reverend Dr. Thady O'Brien, Regius Professor of Theology of the University of Toulouse and Rector of the Irish College Toulouse, born 12 March 1671 at Robertstown, Gortroe, in the diocese of Cloyne; oradined at Toulouse on 2 June 1703; Rector of the Irish College Tolouse 1706-1715; Parish Priest of Castlelyons 1715-1747; died 10 October 1747 at Castlelyons where he was interred. Dr. O'Brien published several theological tracts including An Historical Account of the Waldensians and Albigensians; A Defence of the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Mother of God; The Real Presence proved in the Eucharist; Animadversions on a Sermon treating of the Character of Oppressive Obedience; An Abstract of the Reasons Exhibited by the Very Learned Father Edmond Campion, Martyr, of the Society of Jesus, for his Challenge to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; On the Jubilee Year of 1700.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Creation of the diocese

[edit] External links

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Catholic Dioceses in Ireland
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Province of Cashel and Emly
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Province of Tuam
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