Michael Duignan | |
|---|---|
| Bishop ofClonfert andGalway and Kilmacduagh Apostolic Administrator ofKilfenora | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Diocese | |
| Appointed |
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| Installed |
|
| Predecessor |
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| Previous posts |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | 17 July 1994 by Dominic Conway |
| Consecration | 13 October 2019 by John Kirby |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-07-15)15 July 1970 (age 55) Athlone,County Roscommon, Ireland |
| Alma mater | St. Patrick’s Society for the Foreign Missions Pontifical Gregorian University |
| Motto | Respicite ad eum, et illuminamini (Come ye to him and be enlightened) |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Michael Duignan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Grace |
| Religious style | Bishop |
Michael Gerard Duignan (born 15 July 1970) is anIrishRoman Catholicprelate who has served asBishop of Clonfert since 2019 and additionally asBishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh since 2022.
Duignan was born inAthlone,County Roscommon, on 15 July 1970, the eldest of six children. He attended Cloonakilla National School inBealnamulla andSt. Aloysius College in Athlone, before studying for the priesthood atSt. Patrick's Society for the Foreign Missions inKiltegan,County Wicklow, and thePontifical Gregorian University inRome.[1]
Duignan wasordained as a priest for theDiocese of Elphin on 17 July 1994.[2]
After completing alicentiate indogmatic theology in 1995, Duignan's first pastoral assignments were as acurate in thecathedral parish inSligo and chaplain to the localInstitute of Technology, before returning to Rome to complete doctoral studies in contemporarytrinitarian theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.[1]
Duignan returned to Ireland in 2001, serving as a curate in the parish ofCliffoney and teaching theology, philosophy and religious education atSt Angela's College, before being appointed full-time lecturer in religious education and chaplain at St Angela's College in 2005, and subsequently its director of religious education, theology and chaplaincy programmes. In the same year, he was also appointed assistant diocesan secretary for theDiocese of Elphin.[1]
Duignan was appointed diocesan director of the permanent diaconate in 2008, and subsequently national director in 2014. In the same year, he was also appointedchancellor, diocesan secretary andepiscopal vicar for education and formation for the Diocese of Elphin, and subsequently as financial administrator in 2018.[2]
Duignan was appointedBishop-elect of Clonfert byPope Francis on 16 July 2019.[3][4][1][5] He received episcopal ordination from his predecessor,John Kirby, on 13 October inSt Brendan's Cathedral,Loughrea.[6]
Following the announcement by Pope Francis on 16 November 2021 that the Dioceses ofClonfert andGalway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora would be unitedin persona episcopi, the first-ever union of its kind in Ireland[a], Duignan was appointedBishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh andApostolic Administrator ofKilfenora in addition to his appointment as Bishop of Clonfert on 11 February 2022.[7][8][9][10][11]
He was installed on 1 May in theCathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas,Galway.[12][13][14]
