The Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Geography

The diocese is entirely within the Republic of Ireland and contains most of counties Longford and Leitrim, with parts of counties Cavan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath. The main towns in the diocese are Athlone, Ballymahon, Carrick-on-Shannon, Edgeworthstown, Granard and Longford.

Ecclesiastical history

Lordship and Kingdom of Ireland

The union of the sees of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, which had been proposed in 1709, was carried into effect following the death of Stephen MacEgan, Bishop of Meath on 30 May 1756, who had been administering the see of Clonmacnoise. Augustine Cheevers, Bishop of Ardagh, was translated to the see of Meath on 7 August 1756, and Anthony Blake was appointed as the first bishop of united see of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on 11 August 1756.

Modern times

On Christmas Day 2009, St Mel's cathedral in Longford was destroyed by fire. Bishop O'Reilly said that the building is "just a shell" and "burned out from end to end". The bishop said construction on the cathedral began in 1840 and he described it as a flagship Cathedrals of the midlands. After a long investigation the cause of the fire was traced back to a brick lined chimney at the rear of the cathedral. St Mel's was restored, reopening in 2014.

Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise

On 5 April 2023, Paul Connell was appointed the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise by Pope Francis.

List of parishes

The following are the current parishes in the diocese (official names in italics where they differ from the currently-used names)