KILDARE E LEIGHLIN, DIOCESI DI - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. VII, p. 438

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

KILDARE AND LEIGHLIN, DIOCESE OF. — Comprises the Irish county of Carlow and parts of those of Kildare, Leix, Offaly, Kilkenny, Wicklow, and Wexford. K. and L. are suffragan sees of Dublin; the episcopal see is at Carlow.

Out of a population of 132,091, the two dioceses together count 122,936 Catholics (census of 1936), distributed in 49 parishes, served by 143 diocesan priests and 62 regulars, 20 male and 31 female religious communities; in Carlow are both the major seminary (St. Patrick's College) and the minor seminary (St. Mary's, Knockbeg College).

St. Brigid had founded in that place, near a large oak, her first monastery, hence called Cill-dara (or cell of the oak), and the name extended to indicate the whole district and the diocese. It seems that the first bishop was St. Conleth, consecrated c. 490. The bishop of K. was often called abbot-bishop and bishop of Leinster. Besides St. Brigid, the diocese counts among its saints: St. Fiac of Sletty, Conleth, Emhlin of Monasterevan, Brogan of Clonsast, Aedh of Sletty. In 1678 the ancient diocese of Leighlin, founded by St. Laserian, was perpetually united to K.

BIBL.: P. B. Gams, Series episcoporum ecc. cathol., Ratisbon 1873, pp. 222-23, 226-27; M. Brady, The episcopal succession in England, Scotland and Ireland (1900-1875), I, Rome 1876, pp. 348-60, 383-62; Comerford, Collections relating to the diocese of K. and L., ibid. 1883; Eubel, I, pp. 222, 300; II, pp. 150, 193; III, pp. 201, 239; L. O'Leary, s. V. in Cath. Enc., VIII, pp. 637-39; J. F. Kenney, The sources for the early history of Ireland, I, New York 1929; Irish Catholic Directory and Almanack 1950, Dublin 1950, pp. 244-50.