ELPHIN, Diocese of. - In Ireland; it comprises the counties of Roscommon and part of those of Sligo and Galway. The episcopal see is in 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 religious communities and 14 female, and a 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, around 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 the goldsmith of St. Patrick; from him derives the Celtic artistic school that produced precious liturgical furnishings, such as the Crosier of Cong, the Chalice of Ardagh, etc.

Then there should be remembered, in the see of E., Domhnall O' Dubhthaigh (O' Duffy), d. in 1036, and Flanachan O' Dubhthaigh, d. in 1168. In the period of the reform and afterward, G. Brann, J. Max O' Higgins, O' Crean; and the martyrs O' Healy and Galvinus.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: J. J. Kelly, s. v. in Cath. Ec., V, pp. 392-95; Irish Catholic Directory and Almanach, Dublin 1949, pp. 339-45.

Enrico Josi

@incollection{ec5_elphin_diocesi_di, author = {Josi, Enrico}, title = {Elphin, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {263--264}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/elphin-diocesi-di} }

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Elphin, Diocese of

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