The Most Reverend William J. Philbin D.D. (26 January 1907 - 23 August 1991) was an Irish Roman Catholic Prelate. From 1962 until his retirement, he held the title Lord Bishop of Down and Connor.
William Philbin was born in Kiltimagh in County Mayo, Ireland on the 26 January 1907.
He was ordained on the 21 June 1931 and spent most of his ministry as a Professor of Dogmatic Theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth.
On the 22 December 1953 Pope Pius XII appointed him Bishop of Clonfert, Ireland.
Upon the Death of Bishop Daniel Mageean in 1962, Pope John XXIII appointed him the 29th Bishop of Down and Connor.
His time was Bishop of Down and Connor was marked by the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s.
He was succeeded as Bishop by Cahal Daly, his Peritus at the Second Vatican Council, in 1982.
Dr Philbin died in 1991.