Former Kells CBS pupil is new Bishop of Derry

Michael Router served in Kilmainhamwood parish

A past pupil of the Christian Brothers Secondary School in Kells has been appointed as the new bishop of Derry.

Virginia native Bishop Michael Router, who is currently Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, is to succeed the retiring Bishop Donal McKeown, it was announced this morning by Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland.

Pope Leo XIV has nominated Bishop McKeown as Apostolic Administrator of Derry until Bishop Router is formally installed as the new bishop in September.

Aged 61, Bishop Router was educated in Virginia National School and in Kells CBS before entering Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, to study for the priesthood in 1982. In Maynooth he graduated with a Bachelor in Divinity Degree and a Higher Diploma in Education. He was ordained to the diaconate in the Maynooth College Chapel by Bishop Francis McKiernan, then Bishop of Kilmore, in 1987, and he was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Kilmore in Saint Matthew’s Church, Maghera, in his native parish, on 25th June, 1989.

Bishop Router began his ministry as a curate in the parish of Killinkere and in 1991 he joined the teaching staff of Saint Patrick’s College, Cavan. He was appointed chaplain of Bailieboro Community School in 1996 and priest-in-residence in the parish of Kilmainhamwood and Moybologue. In 2002/2003 he studied at Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin and assisted during that time in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Drimnagh. He graduated with a Masters in Religion and Education in 2003.

On his return to the Diocese of Kilmore, Bishop Router was appointed the Diocesan Director of Adult Faith Formation and Pastoral Renewal while also serving as a priest-in-residence in the parish of Castletara/Ballyhaise. His role included providing training, encouragement and support for parish pastoral councils, liturgy groups, Eucharistic ministers and ministers of the word. He also helped to provide adult religious education courses in the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, and in Manorhamilton, which were accredited by the Mater Dei Institute of Education and the Maryvale Institute.

In 2010, in addition to these roles, Bishop Router was appointed director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, and in 2013 he was transferred as curate to the cathedral parish in Cavan with responsibility for the Butlersbridge area. In 2014 he was appointed parish priest of Killann Parish, which includes the towns of Bailieboro and Shercock, and as Vicar Forane for the Bailieboro Deanery. He was also a member of the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Kilmore and also chairman of the Diocesan Priests’ Council from 2017 to 2019.

He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh and titular Bishop of Lugmad by Pope Francis in May 2019. In the archdiocese, Bishop Router assisted Archbishop Eamon Martin with pastoral and administrative tasks. He chaired the pastoral team, directed the national and international synodal process within the archdiocese, culminating in a Diocesan Congress on Youth, Family and Faith last March. Bishop Router also sat on the various administrative committees in the diocese and was a director of the Saint Patrick’s Diocesan Trust.

In addition, Bishop Router is chair of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference’s Council for Healthcare, vice president of Accord CLG, liaison bishop and vice chair of the Irish Bishop’s Drugs Initiative, chair of the Family Addiction Support Network and a member of the Irish Inter-Church Committee, the Commission for Pastoral Care, the board of Towards Healing and the National Synodal Steering Committee.

Son of Anthony and Nora Router, he has two sisters, Breda Murphy and Martina Keville.