Donal Murray

The Most Reverend  Donal Murray
Bishop Emeritus of Limerick
Diocese	Limerick
Enthroned	24 March 1996
Reign ended	17 December 2009
Predecessor	Jeremiah Newman
Other posts	Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin and Titular Bishop of Glenndálocha 1982–1992
Orders
Ordination	22 May 1966 (Priest)
Consecration	18 April 1982 (Bishop)
Personal details
Birth name	Donal Brendan Murray
Born	29 May 1940 (1940-05-29) (age 71) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church

Donal Brendan Murray (born 29 May 1940) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Limerick from 1996 to 2009. He had previously served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Dublin diocese

Biography

Early life and ordination

He was born in Dublin in 1940, was educated at Blackrock College, studied for a BA and Masters degrees in Philosophy at University College Dublin, obtained a B.Div at St Patrick's College, Maynooth and his Licence and Doctorate in theology in Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).^[1] He was ordained on 22 May 1966.^[1]

Priest and bishop

He lectured in the Mater Dei Institute of Education from 1969, becoming professor of moral theology at Clonliffe College.^[1] He also lectured at UCD – from 1973 to 1982 in Catechetics and from 1978 to 1982 in Medical Ethics.^[1]

In 1981 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Glenndálocha and Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, making him the youngest bishop at the time, aged only 41.^[1] He was appointed as bishop of Limerick on 10 February 1996 by Pope John Paul II. He was installed as Bishop of Limerick on 24 March 1996.^[1]

Abuse scandal

Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in Limerick diocese

In November 2009, he was pressured to resign from his post after the Murphy Report found that he had mishandled child sexual abuse allegations within his diocese.^[2]

He announced his resignation to a congregation, including priests of the Diocese, people working in the Diocesan Office and the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, at 11 am (noon in Rome, the hour of the publication of the decision) in St. John’s Cathedral, Limerick.^[3]

See also

• Murphy Report
• Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland
• Roman Catholic sex abuse cases by country‎‎
• Roman Catholicism in Ireland
• Ivan Payne – subject of chapter 24 of the Murphy Report
• Thomas Naughton – named in chapter 29 of the Murphy Report
• Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin
• Eamonn Oliver Walsh, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin – named in report
• Martin Drennan, Bishop of Galway, and former Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Bishop Donal Murray, by Monsignor John Fleming, limerickdioceseheritage.org
2. ^ Pressure on bishops to resign
3. ^ Statement by Bishop Donal Murray on his resignation as Bishop of Limerick

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Jeremiah Newman	Bishop of Limerick 10 February 1996 – 17 December 2009	Succeeded by sede vacante

Persondata
Name	Murray, Donal Brendan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 May 1940
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Date of death
Place of death