ELPHIN, DIOCESE of. - In Ireland; it comprises the counties of Roscommon and part of those of Sligo
and Galway. The episcopal see is at Sligo; it is a suffragan of Tuam.
The diocese extends over 3,200 sq. km., with a population of 103,500 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 are Catholics. It has 33 parishes served by 108 diocesan and regular priests; it has 7 male and 14 female religious communities, and one seminary (Diocesan College of the Immaculate Conception, 1949).
The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick and the Book of Armagh provide the earliest records of the territory of Corcoghlan; there St. Patrick, about 435, founded a church and a monastery precisely in that place called E., that is, rock of the clear spring. The first bishop was Assicus and the second Bite. Assicus is remembered as St. Patrick’s goldsmith; from him derives the Celtic artistic school which produced precious liturgical furnishings, such as the crozier of Cong, the chalice of Ardagh, etc.
Also to be remembered on the see of E. are Domhnall O' Dubhthaigh (O' Duffy), d. 1036, Flanachan of Dubhthaigh, d. 1168. During the period of the Reformation and afterwards, G. Brann, J. Max O' Higgins, O' Crean; and the martyrs O' Healy and Galvinus.