The church of Saint MelChurch of St Mel, view across the graveyard. June 2013List of the Bishops of Ardagh in St Mel's Cathedral. This list gives the Catholic succession and includes Saint Mél, Melchu, Erhard of Regensburg, several abbots attested in medieval annals, and the Penal-era Vicars Apostolic.
Tradition states that a monastery was founded at Ardagh by St Patrick, and that his nephew, St. Mel (died c.490), was its bishop or abbot. Although there is no historical or archaeological evidence to support it, Mel is regarded as the founder of the see.[3]
Ardagh Cathedral was severely damaged by warfare in 1496 and was never restored. There are remains of an eighth- or ninth-century church at Ardagh, which is known as St. Mel's Cathedral, although it dates from three centuries after the saint's death, and predates the introduction of a diocesan system in Ireland.
In the Church of Ireland, Ardagh was intermittently held with Kilmore between 1604–1633, 1661–1692 and 1693–1742, then held with Tuam 1742–1839. Ardagh was again united to Kilmore 1839–1841. Since 1841, Ardagh has been part of the bishopric of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh.
Pre-Reformation bishops
Bishops during the Reformation
Post-Reformation bishops
Church of Ireland succession
Roman Catholic succession
Notes
A These two bishops appear as rival bishops, and the rivalry was continued to 1237.
B There was a disputed election after the death of Uilliam Mac Carmaic in 1373. Cairbre Ó Feaghail died at Avignon in 1378, and it is not certain that he ever got possession of the see. John Aubrey, O.P., friar of Trim, was one of the three rival candidates in 1373. (The third candidate was Richard O'Farrell, Dean of Ardagh).
C The date of Cormac Mác Shamhradháin's resignation is uncertain, but a 'Joh.', bishop-elect of Ardagh, was in Rome in 1463.
References
^Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 328–329, 378–379 and 412–413.
^Cotton, The Province of Ulster, pp. 179–182.
^Ryan, J. J. "Ardagh". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
^Galloway, The Cathedrals of Ireland.
^Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 328–329.
^Cotton, The Province of Ulster, pp. 178–182.
^Moody, Maps, Genealogies, Lists, pp. 271–273.
^ a b"Historical successions: Ardagh". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
^Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 332, 378, and 413.
^Moody, Maps, Genealogies, Lists, pp. 273, 339, and 395.
^Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 378–379.
^Cotton, The Province of Ulster, pp. 182–185.
^Moody, Maps, Genealogies, Lists, pp. 395–396.
^Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 412–413.
^Moody, Maps, Genealogies, Lists, pp. 339–340.
Bibliography
Cotton, Henry (1849). The Province of Ulster. Fasti Ecclesiae Hiberniae: The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland. Vol. III. Dublin: Hodges and Smith.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Galloway, Peter (1992). The Cathedrals of Ireland. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN 0-85389-452-3.
Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1984). Maps, Genealogies, Lists: A Companion to Irish History, Part II. New History of Ireland. Vol. XI. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821745-5.
External links
The Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnaois
The Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh (Church of Ireland)