Pope Leo XIV appoints his first Irish bishop
Bishop Niall Coll has been appointed as Bishop of Raphoe, his native diocese
- Published
Bishop Niall Coll of Ossory has been appointed as the new Bishop of Raphoe.
It is Pope Leo XIV's first Irish appointment since he was elected in May.
The announcement of the episcopal appointment was made at St Eunan's Cathedral in Letterkenny in County Donegal following Mass on Thursday.
The diocese had been without a bishop since the appointment of Bishop Alan McGuckian as the Bishop of Down and Connor in February 2024.
Monsignor Kevin Gillespie has served as Diocesan Administrator for almost two years.
The appointment of Bishop Coll marks Pope Leo XIV's first Irish appointment since he was elected in May 2025
Bishop Coll said: "It is with deep gratitude that I return home to serve as Bishop of Raphoe - the diocese where I was born, baptised, and ordained.
"To be called back to the place and people who first formed my faith is both humbling and deeply moving."
Archbishop Eamon Martin offered his "prayers and very best wishes to Bishop Niall Coll on his appointment" and described him as a "much loved pastor and shepherd in the Diocese of Ossory".
Who is Bishop Niall Coll?
Bishop Coll, 62, and a native of Saint Johnston in east Donegal, will return to the north west, having served as Bishop of Ossory since January 2023.
Bishop Coll was ordained a priest in 1988 after studying in Maynooth. Following ordination, he studied in Rome and in Trinity College Dublin, before returning to Rome to complete a doctorate.
He was previously a chaplain and a teacher at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, chaplain in Pobalscoil na Rossan and curate in the parish of Dungloe.
In 2001 he was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and Religious Education at Saint Mary's University College, Belfast
He returned to the Diocese of Raphoe in 2020, where he was appointed parish priest of Drumholm in Donegal.
He was subsequently appointed parish priest of Tawnawilly in Donegal town in 2021.
His appointment as Bishop of Ossory by Pope Francis was announced on 28 October 2022. Bishop Coll was ordained Bishop of Ossory on 22 January 2023 by Archbishop Dermot Farrell, Archbishop of Dublin, who himself had previously served as Bishop of Ossory.