Style His Grace First incumbent Áed Ua hOissín Website tuamarchdiocese.org | Country Republic of Ireland Formation 1152 | |
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Cathedral Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuam | ||
The Archbishop of Tuam (Irish: Ard-Easpag Tuaim) is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.
History
At the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, Tuam was named as the seat of a diocese corresponding roughly with the diocese of Elphin, whilst Cong was chosen as the seat of a diocese corresponding with the later archdiocese of Tuam in west Connacht. There is no record of any bishops of Cong, and no bishop was given the title "bishop of Tuam" in the Irish annals before 1152, although the annals recorded some "bishops of Connacht". At the Synod of Kells in 1152, the archdiocese of Tuam was established with six suffragan dioceses.
During the Reformation, the bishopric of Annaghdown was annexed to Tuam in c. 1555. After the Reformation, there were parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1569, the Church of Ireland bishopric of Mayo was annexed to the archbishopric. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, a number of other bishoprics were also united to the archbishopric. The bishopric of Kilfenora was united to Tuam from 1661 to 1742, Ardagh from 1742 to 1839, and Killala and Achonry from 1834.
On the death of Archbishop Le Poer Trench in 1839, the Ecclesiastical Province of Tuam lost its metropolitan status and became the united bishopric of Tuam, Killala and Achonry in the Province of Armagh.
After an unsettled period in the mid to late sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic archbishopric has had a consistent succession of archbishops. In 1631, the Roman Catholic bishopric of Mayo was formally joined to Tuam by papal decree.
The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Michael Neary who was appointed archbishop of Tuam by the Holy See on 17 January 1995 and installed on 5 March 1995. The archbishop's residence is the Archbishop's House, Tuam, County Galway, Ireland.