Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry

Diocese of Kerry

*Dioecesis Kerriensis*

Deoise Chiarraí
Diocese of Kerry; Dioecesis Kerriensis; Deoise Chiarraí
	St Mary's Cathedral, Killarney
Location
Country	Ireland
Territory	Most of County Kerry and part of County Cork
Ecclesiastical province	Cashel and Emly
Metropolitan	Cashel and Emly
Statistics
Area	2,047 sq mi (5,300 km2)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2016); 153,100; 146,790 (95.9%)
Parishes	53
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin
Established	12th century (as Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe); 20 December 1952 (as Diocese of Kerry)
Cathedral	St Mary's, Killarney
Patron saint	Brendan
Secular priests	54 (as of 2018)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Raymond Browne,; Bishop of Kerry
Metropolitan Archbishop	Kieran O'Reilly,; Archbishop of Cashel and Emly
Vicar General	Fr. Seán Hanafin
Bishops emeritus	William Murphy,; Bishop of Kerry
Website
	dioceseofkerry.ie

The Diocese of Kerry (Irish: Deoise Chiarraí) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in south-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly.

The incumbent bishop of the diocese is Raymond Browne.

History

The diocese was established in the sixth century as the Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe.

Its name was changed to the Diocese of Kerry on 20 December 1952.

There are 53 parishes in the diocese, which are divided between two civil counties: 44 in County Kerry and nine in County Cork.^[1]

The parishes are grouped into 12 pastoral areas, formerly known as deaneries.^[2]^[3]^[4]

As of April 2018, there were 54 priests in the diocese, six of whom were under the age of 50.^[5]

Aside from the cathedral town of Killarney, the main towns in the diocese are Castleisland, Kenmare, Listowel, Millstreet, and Tralee.


Pastoral Area	Parishes
Beara	Adrigole Allihies Castletownbere Eyeries
Castleisland	Ballymacelligott Brosna Castleisland Killeentierna Knocknagoshel
Corca Dhuibhne	Annascaul Baile an Fheirtéaraigh Castlegregory Dingle
Duhallow Sliabh Luachra	Ballydesmond Boherbue Dromtarriffe Millstreet Rathmore
Iveragh	Ballinskelligs and Prior Cahersiveen Caherdaniel Valentia Dromod and Waterville
Kenmare	Glengarriff Kenmare Kilgarvan Sneem Tuosist
Killarney	Firies Fossa Glenflesk Kilcummin Killarney
Killorglin	Beaufort Castlemaine Glenbeigh Killorglin Milltown
Listowel	Duagh Listowel Lixnaw Moyvane
Naomh Bhréanainn	Abbeydorney Ardfert Ballyheigue Causeway and Ballyduff
North Kerry	Ballybunion Ballydonoghue Ballylongford Tarbert
Tralee	Spa Our Lady and St Brendan's St John's

The following is a list of bishops since the name of the diocese was changed in 1952:

Denis Moynihan (1952–1969)
Éamonn Casey (1969–1976)
Kevin McNamara (1976–1984)
Diarmuid ó Súilleabháin (1985–1994)
William Murphy (1995–2013)
Raymond Browne (2013–present)

^ Foley, Ann-Marie (25 November 2015). "Kerry diocesan pastoral plan (2016-2020) launched". Catholicireland.net. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ Evans, Tadhg (14 July 2018). "Fr Sean is to begin diocesan ministry in St John's Tralee". The Kerryman. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ Lucey, Anne (28 June 2019). "Kerry parishioners campaign to keep their resident priest". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ "Find Your Parish". Diocese of Kerry. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
^ Baker, Noel (3 April 2018). "Special Report - Diocese by diocese: The state of the Catholic Church on the island of Ireland today". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 3 April 2021.