Ordination of Paul Connell as new Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois this Sunday

The Episcopal Ordination of Paul Connell as the new Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois is this Sunday, June 18, at 3pm in St Mel’s Cathedral, Longford.

The principal consecrator for the Mass will be Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and he will be assisted by co-consecrators Archbishop Francis Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam, and by Bishop Tom Deenihan, Bishop of Meath.

The new Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, His Excellency Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, will preside at this Mass.

In addition to the consecrators, the Mass will be concelebrated by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh, members of the Irish Bishops Conference, both serving and retired, and other clergy present.

Fr Michael McGrath, CC of St Mel’s Parish, Longford, will preach the homily and St Mel’s Cathedral Choir will perform the music throughout the liturgy under the direction of Fintan Farrelly.

The organists will be Dr John O’Keeffe and Gerard Lillis. The master of ceremonies will be Fr Turlough Baxter.

The Ordination Mass will be livestreamed on www.longfordparish.com and broadcast on www.iCatholic.ie and by Shannonside Radio.

Life and Ministry of Bishop-elect Paul Connell

Bishop-elect Paul Connell, a native of Mullingar, was born on January 27, 1958, the second of four children to Thomas and Philomena Connell.

He began his primary education with Katherine Mullaly before attending St Mary’s CBS primary school in Mullingar.

In 1970, he commenced his secondary education in St Finian’s College, Mullingar; he sat the Leaving Certificate in 1975.

From St Finian’s, he entered St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he completed his seminary training in 1982.

He was awarded a BA in 1978, followed by a BD in the Pontifical University in 1981.

The following year he was recipient of the Gilmartin prize in Ecclesiastical History from the Pontifical University.

Bishop-elect Connell was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, on June 20, 1982.

Following ordination, he was briefly attached to Rochfortbridge parish before being appointed to the staff of St Finian’s College. He completed his Higher Diploma in Education in 1983.

He became vice-president of the college in 1989 and succeeded as president and principal in 1998.

From 1992 to 1994, he completed an evening Masters in Local History in NUI Maynooth, and was awarded a doctorate in history by the university in 2002.

Subsequently, Bishop-elect Connell spent a number of years lecturing part-time in Ecclesiastical History at the Milltown Institute of Theology, Dublin, and he has published a number of works in the area of local history.

Bishop-elect Connell remained as president and principal of St Finian’s College until 2019.

Under his direction the college became a co-educational secondary school in 2003, and its boarding school closed in 2007.

In addition, he was president of the national support body for secondary schools, the Secretariat for Secondary Schools, from 2013 to 2018. In January 2019, he resigned his position as principal of St Finian’s, and remained as president.

That followed his appointment as executive secretary of the Council for Education of the Irish Episcopal Conference, based in Columba Centre of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

In 2020, he was appointed by Bishop Tom Deenihan, Bishop of Meath, as Chancellor of the Diocese of Meath.

Since his appointment to St Finian’s in 1982, Bishop-elect Connell has held the position of chaplain in St Mary’s Hospital, Mullingar (Cluain Lir).

For many years during the summer months, he worked in the parishes of All Saints and St Gabriel’s in the Archdiocese of Miami, USA, and more recently in the parish of St Gregory, in the diocese of San Diego.

In August 2021 he was appointed administrator of the Parish of Multyfarnham.