RAPHOE, DIOCESE of. – City and diocese in north-western Ireland. It comprises most of the county of Donegal, in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh and the civil province of Ulster. The diocese has 27 parishes, 88 secular priests and 9 regular priests. In 1946 the population of the diocese was 95,815, of whom 80,985 were Catholics.
The patrons of the diocese are ss. Colombano and Eunan. R. was an episcopal see until the Reformation; in the seventeenth century the bishop John O'Culenan resided at Killybegs, but since the early years of this century the Cathedral and the residence of the bishops have been in Letterkenny. Neil O' Boyle (1591–1611) suffered greatly for the Catholic faith. From his death until 1625 the diocese was governed by apostolic vicars. John O'Culenan (1625–61) was severely persecuted and was sent into exile in 1653; he died and was buried in Brussels. From 1661 until 1695 the diocese was again administered by apostolic vicars or administrators. James O'Gallagher (1725–1737), because of the laws against Catholics, was forced to live in hiding on an island in a lake, where he wrote sermons in the Irish language that were printed in 1736. The remains of the Franciscan abbey of Donegal are located in this diocese; near it the Franciscan layman Michael O'Ceirigh and his collaborators compiled the annals of the kingdom of Ireland between 1632 and 1636. In 1901 the ancient Cathedral Chapter of R. was re-established by Leo XIII.