The Bishop and Apostolic Administrator of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora was an episcopal

Episcopal polity

Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...

 title which took its name after the small villages of Kilmacduagh

Kilmacduagh

Kilmacduagh is a small village in south County Galway, near Gort, in Ireland. It is best known for Kilmacduagh monastery, seat of the Diocese of that name. The diocese is now part of the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe in...

 in County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 and Kilfenora

Kilfenora

Kilfenora is a small village in County Clare in Ireland, just south of The Burren. The village is noted for being the home to the Kilfenora Ceili Band and the location for much of the filming of the sitcom Father Ted.-Places of interest:...

 in County Clare

County Clare

-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Accurately, the title was an alternative sequence of the Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Administrator Apostolic of Kilfenora followed by the next holder as the Bishop of Kilfenora and Administrator Apostolic of Kilmacduagh.

History

It was decreed by Pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...

 in 1750 that the Episcopal see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

s of Kilmacduagh

Bishop of Kilmacduagh

The Bishop of Kilmacduagh was an episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilmacduagh in County Galway, Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with other bishoprics.-History:...

 and Kilfenora

Bishop of Kilfenora

The Bishop of Kilfenora was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilfenora in County Clare, Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with other bishoprics.-History:...

 were to be united. The bishop of the united dioceses was to be alternately bishop of one diocese and apostolic administrator

Apostolic Administrator

An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...

 of the other, since the two dioceses were in different ecclesiastical province

Ecclesiastical Province

An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...

s. The first bishop under this new arrangement was Peter Kilkelly, who had been Bishop of Kilmacduagh

Bishop of Kilmacduagh

The Bishop of Kilmacduagh was an episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilmacduagh in County Galway, Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with other bishoprics.-History:...

 since 1744, became Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora in September 1750.

Following the resignation of Bishop Patrick Fallon in 1866, John MacEvilly, Bishop of Galway (later Archbishop of Tuam

Archbishop of Tuam

The Archbishop of Tuam is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.-History:...

), was appointed Apostolic Administrator of both the dioceses of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora. In 1883, the see of Kilmacduagh was united with Galway, and the bishops of the united see were also made permanently apostolic administrators of Kilfenora.

List of bishops and apostolic administrators

Bishops and Apostolic Administrators of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1750	1783	Peter Kilkelly Peter Kilkelly Peter Kilkelly, Bishop of Kilmacduagh, 1750-83.Kilkelly was a native of County Galway, his family, Mac Giolla Cheallaigh, being a branch of the dynasty that once ruled Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, a kingdom occupying roughly the same land area as the diocese of Kilmacduagh.A member of the Dominican Order,...	Appointed Bishop of Kilmacduagh Bishop of Kilmacduagh The Bishop of Kilmacduagh was an episcopal title which took its name after the village of Kilmacduagh in County Galway, Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, the title is now united with other bishoprics.-History:...  on 22 June and consecrated 14 October 1744; he also was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora when the two dioceses united in September 1750; died 29 May 1783
1783	1795	Laurence Nihil	Appointed 23 December 1783; died 29 June 1795
1795	1798	Edward Dillon Edward Dillon (archbishop) Edward Dillon was an Irish clergyman who served as a Roman Catholic prelate in Ireland during the late 18th and early 19th centuries....	Appointed coadjutor bishop Coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...  (with succession) 21 January 1794; succeeded 29 June 1795; translated to Tuam Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.-History:...  19 November 1798
1798	1799	(Richard Luke Concanen R. Luke Concanen Richard Luke Concanen, O.P. was an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of New York .... , O.P. Dominican Order The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France... )	Appointed 19 November 1798, but was not consecrated; resigned before 11 December 1799; later he was appointed the first Bishop of New York on 8 April 1808, but died in Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...  on 19 June 1810 while waiting to sail to New York New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
1800	1823	Nicholas Archdeacon	Appointed 12 October 1800; died 27 November 1823
1824	1852	Edmund Ffrench Edmund Ffrench Edmund Ffrench, O.P., Warden of Galway, Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, 1775-1852.Ffrench was a descendant of The Tribes of Galway, though by the 18th century his family had become Protestant. His father, Edmund, was Mayor of Galway and the town's Protestant Warden...	Appointed 24 August 1824 and consecrated 13 March 1825; also was the last Warden of Galway (1812-1831); died 20 July 1852
1853	1866	Patrick Fallon	Appointed 26 January 1853; resigned due to ill health 31 August 1866 and entered the Passionist Passionist The Passionists are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Paul of the Cross . Professed members use the initials C.P. after their names.-History:St...  order; died at Mount Argus, Dublin on 13 May 1879
1866	1883	John McEvilly John McEvilly John McEvilly was an Irish Roman Catholic archbishop.Born in Louisburgh, County Mayo, he was ordained in 1842 and became priest of Tuam...	Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora in 1866 and reliquished the post in 1883; also was Bishop of Galway (1857-1881), coadjutor archbishop Coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...  of Tuam Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tuam is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in western Ireland. According to tradition, the "Diocese of Tuam" was established in the sixth century by St. Jarlath...  (1878-1881) and Archbishop of Tuam Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Roman Catholic Church.-History:...  (1881-1902)
Since 1883, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora have been part of the united diocese of Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora The Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora is a Roman Catholic diocese in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Metropolitan Province of Tuam and is subject to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tuam...