What We Know: Bishop Ger Nash to officially take charge of Kilkenny diocese
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Bishop Nash will be installed in St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday afternoon
Bishop Ger Nash will formally succeed Bishop Niall Coll in the Diocese of Ossory on Sunday afternoon.
Bishop Nash will be installed by Archbishop Dermot Farrell at a ceremony in St Mary’s Cathedral.
What do we know about Bishop Nash?
Bishop Gerard Nash was born in 1959 in Tulla, Co Clare. He studied business and then worked in manufacturing industry for a number of years, subsequently choosing to study for the priesthood with the Diocese of Killaloe in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He was ordained a priest in 1991. On 11 June 2021, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Ferns.
Concerns
When Bishop Niall Coll departed for his home county of Donegal, there was frustration locally that Ossory had lost its third bishop in ten years. There was concern among some members of the clergy and laity that the move, coupled with the departure of diocesan administrators, hampered any kind of long-term planning. It prompted local councillor Mary Hilda Cavanagh to declare: “The Diocese of Ossory is not a training ground for bishops. Send us a bishop and leave us our bishop!”
The Diocese of Ossory has a Catholic population of 83,595. The diocese comprises 42 parishes - most of County Kilkenny, six parishes in County Laois, and one parish in County Offaly.