Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry

The Diocese of Derry (Latin: Dioecesis Derriena; Irish: Deoise Dhoire) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church which straddles the international frontier between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. The diocese was established in the year 1158.^[1] The diocese consists of almost fifty parishes and some number of religious congregations have houses in various parts of the diocese.

Diocese of Derry Dioecesis Derriena Deoise Dhoire
St Eugene's Cathedral viewed from the walls of Derry
Location
Country	Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland
Territory	Most of County Londonderry, some parishes in counties Tyrone and Antrim and County Donegal
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Armagh
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Armagh
Coordinates	54.995°N 7.326°W / 54.995; -7.326
Statistics
Area	965 sq mi (2,500 km2)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2019) 336,741 252,347 (74.9%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	St Eugene's Cathedral, Derry
Patron saint	St Eugene and St Columba
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Donal McKeown
Metropolitan Archbishop	Eamon Martin
Vicar General	Paul McCafferty & Monsignor Andy Dolan
Map
Website
derrydiocese.org

The Cathedral Church of the diocese is St Eugene's Cathedral. Nearby is St Columba's Church, Long Tower.

Schools in the Diocese

Schools in the diocese include: St Columb's College, Thornhill College, St Joseph's Boys' School, Lumen Christi College.

Adult Faith Development

As part of their adult faith development, the diocese runs the Diploma in Pastoral Theology validated by St. Patrick's College, Maynooth,^[2] from the Drumalis Retreat Centre.^[3]

The Derry Diocese Catechetical Centre in conjunction with St Mary's University, Twickenham offer a Masters in Catholic School Leadership.^[4]

Geography

Derry contains most of County Londonderry, some parishes in counties Tyrone and Antrim and the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal, and the parish of Lifford (Clonleigh) in East Donegal. As well as the city of Derry, the main towns are Buncrana, Coleraine, Lifford, Limavady, Maghera, Omagh and Strabane.

Bishops

Main article: Bishop of Derry

The following is a basic list of the post-Reformation Roman Catholic bishops and vicars apostolic.^[5][6]

• Réamonn Ó Gallchobhair (also known as Redmond O'Gallagher) (1569–1601)
• position vacant (1601–1622)
• Luke Rochford, vicar apostolic (appointed 1622)
• Terence Kelly, vicar apostolic (1629–1668)
• Eugene Conwell, vicar apostolic (appointed 1671)
• Bernard O'Cahan, vicar apostolic (1684–1711)
• Fergus Laurence Lea (1694–c. 1696)
• position vacant (1711–1720)
• Terence Donnelly (1720–unknown)
• Neil Conway (1727–1738)
• Michael O'Reilly (prelate) (1739–1749)
• John Brullaghhaun (1749–1750)
• Patrick Bradley, O.P. (1751–1752)
• John MacColgan (1752–1765)
• Phillip MacDevitt (1766–1797)
• Charles O'Donnell (1797–1824)
• Peter MacLaughlin (1824–1840)
• John MacLaughlin (1840–1864)
• Francis Kelly (1864–1889)
• John Keys O'Doherty (1889–1907)
• Charles MacHugh (1907–1926)
• Bernard O'Kane (1926–1939)
• Neil Farren (1939–1973)
• Edward Daly (1974–1993)
• Séamus Hegarty (1994–2011)
• position vacant (2011–2014)
• Donal McKeown (2014–present)

See also

• Diocese of Derry and Raphoe (Church of Ireland)
• Roman Catholicism in Ireland
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Northern Ireland
• Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland