The see of Kilmore was originally known as Breifne (Latin: Tirbrunensis, Tybruinensis or Triburnia; Irish: Tír mBriúin, meaning "the land of the descendants of Brian", one of the kings of Connaught) and took its name after the Kingdom of Breifne.[1][2]
The overkingdoms of Ireland circa 900, including the Kingdom of Breifne which has approximately the same boundaries with the diocese of Kilmore.
The see became one of the dioceses approved by Giovanni Cardinal Paparoni at the synod of Kells in 1152,[1] and has approximately the same boundaries as those of the ancient Kingdom of Breifne.[2] In the Irish annals, the bishops were recorded of Breifne, Breifni, Breifny, Tir-Briuin, or Ui-Briuin-Breifne.
In the second half of the 12th century, it is likely the sees of Breifne and Kells were ruled together under one bishop.[3] In 1172, Tuathal Ua Connachtaig took the oath of fealty to King Henry II of England as bishop of Kells.[4] Soon after 1211 the see of Kells was incorporated into the diocese of Meath.[3]
In the Church of Ireland, the title was intermittently held with Ardagh until they were finally united in 1839. In 1841, the sees of Kilmore and Ardagh were amalgamated with Elphin to form the united bishopric of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. The current incumbent is The Right Reverend Samuel Ferran Glenfield M.A. M.Th. (Oxon.) M.Litt. He was elected, consecrated, and installed in 2013.
During the Reformation, Edmund Nugent and John MacBrady were at one time or another bishops of either the Church of Ireland or Roman Catholic succession. They were each appointed as Roman Catholic bishops, but later accepted or recognized as Anglican bishops.[10]
Post-Reformation bishops
Church of Ireland succession
Roman Catholic succession
Notes
A These two are possibly the same individual.
B Cormac Mág Shamhradháin and Tomás Mac Brádaigh were rival bishops, and probably supported by rival septs within the diocese. They were present at provincial councils held by Ottaviano Spinelli de Palatio, Archbishop of Armagh, in 1492 and 1495, and were both then recognized as bishops of Kilmore. But Diarmaid Ó Raghillaigh was appointed to the see in 1512 before Cormac's death, though Cormac was still maintaining his rights at that date.
^ a bFryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 362.
^ a b c"Diocese: Statistics and Brief History". Diocese of Kilmore. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
^ a bFryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 357.
^Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 363.
^St. Feithlimidh's Cathedral, Kilmore Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Travelmania. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
^Brady 1876, The Episcopal Succession volume 1, pp. 277–279.
^Cotton 1849, The Province of Ulster, pp. 154–156.
^Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 362–363.
^Moody, Martin & Byrne 1984, A New History of Ireland, volume IX, pp. 228–289.
^ a bFryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 363, 398 and 436.
^Brady 1876, The Episcopal Succession, volume 1, pp. 279–280.
^Cotton 1849, The Province of Ulster, p. 156.
^Moody, Martin & Byrne 1984, A New History of Ireland, volume IX, pp. 289, 349, and 404.
^Cotton 1849, The Province of Ulster, pp. 157–167 and 169–170.
^Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 398–399.
^Moody, Martin & Byrne 1984, A New History of Ireland, volume IX, pp. 404–406.
^Brady 1876, The Episcopal Succession, volume 1, pp. 280–287.
^"Diocese of Kilmore". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
^Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 436–437.
^Moody, Martin & Byrne 1984, A New History of Ireland, volume IX, pp. 349–351.
Bibliography
Brady, W. Maziere (1876). The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, A.D. 1400 to 1875. Vol. 1. Rome: Tipografia Della Pace.
Cotton, Henry (1849). The Province of Ulster. Fasti Ecclesiae Hiberniae: The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland. Vol. 3. Dublin: Hodges and Smith.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1984). Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History, Part II. A New History of Ireland. Vol. IX. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821745-5.