Laurence Gillooly CM (12 May 1819 – 12 January 1895) was an Irish Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Bishop of Elphin from 1858 to 1895.[1] The son of Laurence Gillooly and his wife Margaret (née McGann), he was born at Bothair Garbh, Gallowstown, County Roscommon, near Roscommon Town. His older brother, Timothy, also became a priest.
Brought up an Irish Catholic, he was educated locally in Roscommon, and at St Nathy's College in Ballaghadereen. He studied at the Irish College in Paris before ordination as a Vincentian Priest in 1847.[2] Favoured by Cardinal Cullen, his status as a ultramontanist helped him to obtain the position of bishopric of Elphin.[3]
During Gillhooly's time in Elphin, he developed many churches, including the redevelopment of Sligo Cathedral. He founded Summerhill College (originally outside Athlone, now in Sligo) as a Diocesan College. Gillhooly Hall is named after him.
He was a highly organised and disciplined correspondent and his vast archive has been preserved allowing a better study of his episcopacy. He is regarded as a perfect example of a Cullenite bishop in post-Famine Ireland, determined to implement the so-called 'devotional revolution' to his largely rural diocese. [4]
He was succeeded as Bishop of Elphin by John Joseph Clancy (bishop), a priest of the diocese and professor at Maynooth College.[5]
- ^ Bishop Laurence Gillooly. Catholic Hierarchy website. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ Parish History Archived 2014-12-08 at the Wayback Machine - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
- ^ 'Paul Cardinal Cullen and the Shaping of Modern Irish Catholicism' (1983) By Desmond Bowen.
- ^ https://www.dib.ie/biography/gillooly-laurence-a3482 [bare URL]
- ^ https://www.dib.ie/biography/clancy-john-a1674 [bare URL]