Bishop of Mayo

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The Bishop of Mayo was an episcopal title which took its name after County Mayo in Ireland. After the Reformation, the title was briefly used by the Church of Ireland until 1559 and by the Roman Catholic Church until 1631. With each denomination, the bishopric was united to the archbishopric of Tuam.

History

The diocese of Mayo was not established at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, but was recognized at the Synod of Kells in 1152. A bishop of Mayo, probably Gille Ísa Ua Maílín, took the oath of fealty to King Henry II of England in 1172.

In 1202, the papal legate, Cardinal John, had the see of Mayo united to the archbishopric of Tuam. In 1216, Pope Innocent III heard the case in Rome, and gave sentence in favour of Tuam. His sentence was maintained by papal legate James in 1221, and was finally confirmed by Pope Gregory IX on 3 July 1240. However, in the first half of the fifteenth century, Mayo appears to have gained independence with further bishops of Mayo being appointed, although their position is unclear and may have been assistant or suffragan bishops.^[1]

During the Reformation, the church in Ireland broke allegiance from the papacy. In 1536, King Henry VIII of England was declared by an Irish Parliament to be the Supreme Head of the Church in Ireland. The bishops of Mayo continued to conform to the Protestant church under Edward VI, but under Mary I they reverted back to the Roman Catholic Church.

After the Reformation, the Church of Ireland see was united to the Protestant archbishopric of Tuam, circa 1559. The Roman Catholic see continued until the early seventeenth century, when, after a long vacancy, it was united to the archdiocese of Tuam in 1631.

List of bishops

Pre-Reformation bishops

Pre-Reformation Bishops of Mayo [1]
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
before 1172	1184	Gille Ísa Ua Maílín	Died in office
unknown	1210	Céle Ua Dubhthaig	Died in office
c.1210	1216	? Patricius	Elected circa 1210; resigned 1216, and possibly died in the same year
1216	1428	See held by the archbishops of Tuam
1428		(William Prendergast)	Appointed 16 July 1428, but did not take effect
1430	1436	Nicholas 'Wogmay'	Appointed 17 July 1430; died after October 1436
1432	1439	Martinus Campania, O.Cist.	Appointed 29 April 1432; acted as a suffragan bishop in the ecclesiastical principalities of Münster and Utrecht; resigned before 31 August 1439
1439	1448	Aodh Ó hUiginn, O.S.A.	Appointed 31 August 1439; deprived before January 1448; died 1478
1448	1457	No bishops appointed
1457	1470	Simon de Duren	Appointed 12 August 1457; acted as a suffragan bishop in the ecclesiastical principalities of Münster and Worms in 1461; died 28 August 1470
1470	1493	No bishops appointed

Bishops during the Reformation

Bishops of Mayo during the Reformation [2]
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1493	c.1541	John Bell, O.S.A.	Appointed 4 November 1493; acted as a suffragan bishop in England between 1499 to circa 1530; died circa 1541
1541	c.1559	Eugene MacBrehon, O.Carm.	Appointed 21 November 1541, but cannot have got possession, since the diocese was held by Christopher Bodkin, Archbishop of Tuam; died circa 1559
In circa 1559, the Church of Ireland see was united to the Protestant archbishopric of Tuam

Post-Reformation bishops

Roman Catholic Bishops of Mayo [3]
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
c.1559	1574	No bishops appointed
1574	unknown	Dermot O'Dwyer, O.F.M.	Appointed 12 February 1574; death date unknown
1576	1579	Patrick O'Hely, O.F.M	Appointed 4 July 1576; died after June 1579
1579	1585	No bishops appointed
1585	unknown	Adam Magauran	Appointed 28 July 1585; death date unknown
In 1631, Mayo was united to the Roman Catholic archbishopric of Tuam

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 367. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
2. ^ Fryde, ibid., p. 401 and 438–439.
3. ^ Fryde, ibid., pp. 438–439.