# Colm O'Reilly > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Colm_O'Reilly > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Colm_O'Reilly.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_O'Reilly > Source revision: 1301353056 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Irish Catholic bishop (born 1935) Colm O'Reilly Bishop-emeritus of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Church Roman Catholic Church Archdiocese Armagh Diocese Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Appointed 10 April 1983 Term ended 17 July 2013 Predecessor Cahal Daly Successor Francis Duffy Orders Ordination 19 June 1960 (priest) Consecration 10 April 1983 (bishop) Personal details Born (1935-01-11) 11 January 1935 (age 91) Colmcille, County Longford, Ireland Parents John and Alicia O'Reilly **Colm O'Reilly** (born 11 January 1935) is an [Irish](/source/Republic_of_Ireland) [prelate](/source/Prelate) of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church). He served as the [Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise](/source/Diocese_of_Ardagh_and_Clonmacnoise) from 1983 to 2013. ## Early life and education The youngest of seven children, O'Reilly was born to John and Alicia O'Reilly in [Colmcille](/source/Aughnacliffe), [County Longford](/source/County_Longford).[1] His eldest brother, Peter (died 1988), was [superior general](/source/Superior_general) of [St. Patrick's Missionary Society](/source/St._Patrick's_Missionary_Society) for sixteen years, and another brother, Brendan (died 2000), was a member of the [Divine Word Missionaries](/source/Divine_Word_Missionaries).[1] He studied at [St. Mel's College](/source/St._Mel's_College) in [Longford](/source/Longford), and was [ordained](/source/Holy_Orders) a [priest](/source/Priesthood_(Catholic_Church)) on 19 June 1960.[2] in Maynooth. He spent his priesthood in [parishes](/source/Parish_(Catholic_Church)) in the [Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise](/source/Diocese_of_Ardagh_and_Clonmacnoise), ministering first in [Granard](/source/Granard) for nine years.[3] In 1969 he was appointed [curate](/source/Curate) and later administrator at [St. Mel's Cathedral](/source/St_Mel's_Cathedral%2C_Longford).[1] ## Episcopal ministry On 24 February 1983, O'Reilly was appointed [Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois](/source/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Ardagh_and_Clonmacnois) by [Pope John Paul II](/source/Pope_John_Paul_II). He received his [episcopal consecration](/source/Bishop_(Catholic_Church)) on the following 10 April 1983 from Cardinal [Tomás Ó Fiaich](/source/Tom%C3%A1s_%C3%93_Fiaich), with Archbishop [Gaetano Alibrandi](/source/Gaetano_Alibrandi) and Bishop [Cahal Daly](/source/Cahal_Daly) as [co-consecrators](/source/Consecrator). Widely seen as pastorally sensitive and displaying an empathy for people given his parish as opposed to academic experience he generally adopted a low-profile approach to his episcopal ministry but did some wider work within the [Irish Bishops Conference](/source/Irish_Bishops_Conference).[4] He was [Chairman](/source/Chair_(official)) of the Commission for the Missions and of the Liaison Committee for Child Protection; and a member of the Conference Department of Social Issues and International Affairs, Committee for Family and Children, Commission for Justice and Social Affairs, and [Trócaire](/source/Tr%C3%B3caire).[5] In 2009 he was greatly shocked by the fire at [St Mel's Cathedral](/source/St_Mel's_Cathedral) with which he had such a long association and O'Reilly spearheaded the campaign to rebuild and restore the fire ravaged building.[6] A 2011 audit into the diocese's handling of child sex abuse allegations stated that Bishop O'Reilly "displays a gentle caring approach but with great wisdom and honesty," and further that he along with the diocese's designated person in the area of child safeguarding, "ensures that allegations are addressed in full."[7] ## Resignation On 17 July 2013, Bishop O'Reilly's resignation from the [pastoral](/source/Pastoral_care) government of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise was accepted by [Pope Francis](/source/Pope_Francis), in accordance with the [1983 *Code of Canon Law*](/source/1983_Code_of_Canon_Law).[8] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-diocese_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-diocese_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-diocese_1-2) ["Bishop"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090106165739/http://ardaghdiocese.org/page6.html). *[Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise](/source/Diocese_of_Ardagh_and_Clonmacnoise)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.ardaghdiocese.org/page6.html) on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-hierarchy_2-0)** ["Bishop Colm O'Reilly"](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/borec.html). *[Catholic-Hierarchy.org](/source/Catholic-Hierarchy.org)*. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Canning, Bernard (1988). *Bishops of Ireland 1870-1987*. [Ballyshannon](/source/Ballyshannon): [Donegal Democrat](/source/Donegal_Democrat). p. 77. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1870963008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1870963008). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Ireland's bishops - Who are these guys? | Magill"](https://magill.ie/archive/irelands-bishops-who-are-these-guys). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-conference_5-0)** ["Bishop Colm O'Reilly"](https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20091102123135/http://www.catholicbishops.ie/missions/915%2Dbishop%2Dcolm%2Doreilly). *[Irish Bishops Conference](/source/Irish_Bishops_Conference)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.catholicbishops.ie/missions/915-bishop-colm-oreilly) on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Bishop Colm O'Reilly announces design team for the restoration of St Mel's Cathedral, Longford"](https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2011/02/06/bishop-colm-oreilly-announces-design-team-for-the-restoration-of-st-mels-cathedral-longford/). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Bishop's handling of abuse allegations is praised"](https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/11/30/4007945-bishops-handling-of-abuse-allegations-is-praised/). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-renduffy_8-0)** ["Rinunce e Nomine"](http://attualita.vatican.va/sala-stampa/bollettino/2013/07/17/news/31412.html). *The Holy See* (in Italian). 17 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013. ## External links Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Colm O'Reilly](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Colm_O%27Reilly)***. - [Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference](http://www.catholicbishops.ie/) Catholic Church titles Preceded by Cahal Daly Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise 1983 – 2013 Succeeded by Francis Duffy v t e Roman Catholic Bishops of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Anthony Blake James Brady John Cruise James Magauran William O'Higgins John Kilduff Neal McCabe George Michael Conroy Bartholomew Woodlock Joseph Hoare James Joseph MacNamee Cahal Daly Colm O'Reilly Francis Duffy --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Colm O'Reilly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_O'Reilly) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colm_O'Reilly?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.