Ordination of new Bishop next month

It was announced at the end of June that the Tipperary native (60) had bee chosen to be the new Bishop of Kilmore, taking in Co Cavan as well as parts of Leitrim, Fermanagh, Meath and Sligo.

The Episcopal Ordination of the Very Reverend Martin Hayes as Bishop of Kilmore will take place in Cavan next month.

Rev Hayes will be ordained at a ceremony in the Cathedral of SS. Patrick & Felim on Sunday, September 20 at 3pm.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the numbers attending the ceremony will be greatly reduced and will be by invitation only.

Further details on the ordination ceremony will be published in due course.

It was announced at the end of June that the Tipperary native (60) had bee chosen to be the new Bishop of Kilmore, taking in Co Cavan as well as parts of Leitrim, Fermanagh, Meath and Sligo.

Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, was amongst those in attendance at the service in the Cathedral to welcome the new bishop.

Rev Hayes succeeds Bishop Leo O’Reilly who retired on health grounds in December 2018.

The Bishop-elect entered Saint Patrick’s College seminary, Thurles, in September 1983, before being ordained a deacon five years later on April 4, 1988.

He was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 1989, by His Grace Archbishop Dermot Clifford.

Later the then Fr. Hayes obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy in Rome, in 1991, while staying at the Pontifical Irish College, and subsequently served as curate in the Thurles Parish with responsibility for the church of St. Joseph & St. Brigid.

In July 2007, the Bishop-elect was appointed Administrator of the Cathedral of the Assumption, Cathedral Street, Thurles, before being appointed 10 years later, in August 2017, to the full-time post of Director of Pastoral Planning & Development in the Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly.

Rev Hayes also served as delegate for the diocese in preparation for the 9th World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland in 2018.