Michael Duignan (bishop)

Michael Gerard Duignan (born 15 July 1970) is an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Clonfert since 2019 and additionally as Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh since 2022.

This article is about the bishop. For the hurler, see Michael Duignan (hurler).

The Most Reverend

Michael Duignan
Bishop of Clonfert and Galway and Kilmacduagh
Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora
ChurchRoman Catholic
Diocese
Appointed
  • 16 July 2019 (Clonfert)
  • 11 February 2022 (Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora)
Installed
  • 13 October 2019 (Clonfert)
  • 1 May 2022 (Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora)
Predecessor
Orders
Ordination17 July 1994
by Dominic Conway
Consecration13 October 2019
by John Kirby
Personal details
Born (1970-07-15) 15 July 1970
Athlone, County Roscommon, Ireland
Previous post(s)
Alma materSt. Patrick’s Society for the Foreign Missions
Pontifical Gregorian University
MottoRespicite ad eum, et illuminamini
(Come ye to him and be enlightened)
Coat of armsMichael Duignan's coat of arms
Styles of
Michael Duignan
Reference styleThe Most Reverend
Spoken styleYour Grace
Religious styleBishop

Early life

Duignan was born in Athlone, County Roscommon, on 15 July 1970, the eldest of six children. He attended Cloonakilla National School in Bealnamulla and St. Aloysius College in Athlone, before studying for the priesthood at St. Patrick's Society for the Foreign Missions in Kiltegan, County Wicklow, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.[1]

Duignan was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Elphin on 17 July 1994.[2]

Presbyteral ministry

After completing a licentiate in dogmatic theology in 1995, Duignan's first pastoral assignments were as a curate in the cathedral parish in Sligo and chaplain to the local Institute of Technology, before returning to Rome to complete doctoral studies in contemporary trinitarian theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.[1]

Duignan returned to Ireland in 2001, serving as a curate in the parish of Cliffoney and teaching theology, philosophy and religious education at St Angela's College, before being appointed full-time lecturer in religious education and chaplain at St Angela's College in 2005, and subsequently its director of religious education, theology and chaplaincy programmes. In the same year, he was also appointed assistant diocesan secretary for the Diocese of Elphin.[1]

Duignan was appointed diocesan director of the permanent diaconate in 2008, and subsequently national director in 2014. In the same year, he was also appointed chancellor, diocesan secretary and episcopal vicar for education and formation for the Diocese of Elphin, and subsequently as financial administrator in 2018.[2]

Episcopal ministry

Bishop of Clonfert

Duignan was appointed Bishop-elect of Clonfert by Pope Francis on 16 July 2019.[3][4][1][5] He received episcopal ordination from his predecessor, John Kirby, on 13 October in St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea.[6]

Bishop of Clonfert and Galway and Kilmacduagh

Following the announcement by Pope Francis on 16 November 2021 that the Dioceses of Clonfert and Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora would be united in persona episcopi, the first-ever union of its kind in Ireland[lower-alpha 1], Duignan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora in addition to his appointment as Bishop of Clonfert on 11 February 2022.[7][8][9][10][11]

He was installed on 1 May in the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, Galway.[12][13][14]

Notes
  1. Irish dioceses have been merged in the past–for example, Galway and Kilmacduagh in the 19th century–by leaving positions vacant and naming apostolic administrators rather than uniting two dioceses under a single ordinary.

References
  1. "Pope Francis appoints Father Michael Duignan as Bishop of Clonfert". Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  2. "Pope Francis appoints Bishop Michael Duignan as Bishop of Galway". Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  3. "Rinunce e nomine". Holy See Press Office (in Italian). 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  4. McGrath, Pat (16 July 2019). "Bishop of Clonfert steps down after 31 years". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  5. "New Bishop of Clonfert tells young people life is better with Christ than without". Irish Examiner. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  6. Daly, Greg (17 October 2019). "Pope's pick for new bishop defies talk of diocesan demise". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. Conneely, Ailbhe (16 November 2021). "One bishop for two separate dioceses in Galway area". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  8. "Message to the People of the Diocese of Clonfert and the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora". Diocese of Clonfert. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  9. "Rinunce e nomine". Holy See Press Office (in Italian). 11 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  10. "Message from Bishop Michael to the Priests and People of the Diocese of Clonfert". Diocese of Clonfert. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  11. Mannion, Teresa (11 February 2022). "One bishop for two dioceses in Galway". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  12. "Bishop Michael Duignan is installed as Bishop of Galway". Galway Bay FM. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  13. "Installation on 1 May". Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. McCaughley, Ciara (3 May 2022). "Roscommon native 'honoured and humbled' to become Bishop of Galway". Roscommon Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2023.


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