Number of Catholic bishops in Ireland set to decline significantly through diocesan mergers

The number of Ireland’s Catholic bishops could be reduced by as much as a third following Vatican consultations which involved Pope Leo shortly before his election to the papacy last year.

Five years ago there were 26 dioceses in Ireland, each with its own bishop. That number could drop to 17 under merger plans for dioceses being considered.

Munster’s seven bishops have circulated among their clergy proposals that could lead to two and possibly three dioceses in the province being merged with others.

Last July, two Leinster dioceses, Ossory and Ferns, were merged under the authority of Bishop Ger Nash. Another potential merger would involve Meath being combined with Ardagh and Clonmacnoise (mostly Longford).

The document from Munster’s bishops stems from a February 2025 meeting involving Pope Leo, then cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, which was attended by Ireland’s four Catholic Archbishops: Catholic Primate Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell, Archbishop of Cashel Kieran O’Reilly and Archbishop of Tuam Francis Duffy.

They discussed proposed mergers within Ireland’s dioceses as priest numbers continued to fall.

The process had already begun in the west of Ireland with the merging of Clonfert and Galway dioceses in 2021 under Bishop Michael Duignan.

Since then, Achonry merged with Elphin in 2025 under Bishop Kevin Doran, and Killala with Tuam earlier this year under Archbishop Francis Duffy.

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It has meant a halving of the number of dioceses in the west of Ireland, from six to three, with each merged diocese retaining its identity.

A spokesman for the Catholic bishops confirmed that the seven bishops in Munster have circulated proposals for the merger of dioceses in the province with their clergy.

“Since the meeting in Rome held in February 2025, between the four Archbishops of Ireland with cardinal Robert Prevost... the subject of reconfiguration of dioceses within the province of Munster has been on the agenda of the regular meetings of the seven Munster bishops,” said the spokesman.

He said a “canonical consultation” will take place in dioceses with recommendations eventually submitted to Rome – a process that “will take a number of years”.

In Munster, two bishops are due to retire over the coming year, on reaching the age of 75: Bishop of Cloyne William Crean in December, and Archbishop of Cashel Kieran O’Reilly in August.

One merger under consideration in Munster is Cloyne, which covers mostly east Cork, being combined with either the diocese of Cork and Ross or Waterford and Lismore.

Others include Cashel with Killaloe and Limerick with Kerry.

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The bishops’ spokesman said such mergers had “particular resonance” with the objective and outcomes of the National Synodal Assembly held in Gormanstown, Co Meath, as it seeks “to best equip” the Catholic Church in Munster “for mission and evangelisation in the service of God’s people”.

In Ulster, proposals to merge Derry and Raphoe, covering Donegal, were, it is understood, resisted at the meeting with Prevost in February 2025.

New bishops have since been appointed to both dioceses. Bishop Niall Coll was appointed Bishop of Raphoe last November, and Bishop Michael Router was appointed to Derry in July.

However, Bishop of Clogher Larry Duffy, whose diocese mostly covers Monaghan, is due to retire next month, and it is expected that the diocese will be merged with neighbouring Kilmore.

In Ulster, one of the island’s smallest dioceses, Dromore in Co Down, has largely been merged with Armagh since 2018, when Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin was appointed administrator there.