Bishop Niall Coll has been appointed as the new Bishop of Raphoe by Pope Leo XIV.
Bishop Coll, who until now was the Bishop of Ossory, is from Letterkenny in Co Donegal.
His appointment to the Co Donegal diocese was officially announced following Mass at St Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny on Thursday morning, which was attended by Bishop Coll, Bishop Philip Boyce, Bishop Emeritus of Raphoe and Msgr Kevin Gillespie.
Bishop Coll attended St Baithin’s National School, St Johnston and St Eunan’s College in Letterkenny.
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In 1981 he entered the national seminary at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree in history and geography in 1984, and a bachelor’s degree in divinity in 1987.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Séamus Hegarty for the Diocese of Raphoe in 1988. Following a two-year period of postgraduate study in Rome, he was conferred with a licence in theology by the Gregorian University.
In 1989, having completed his studies, Bishop Coll was appointed to St Eunan’s College as chaplain and teacher.
Three years later he was sent to Rome to study for a doctorate in theology at the Gregorian University. In 1995 he was awarded a doctoral degree for a thesis in Christology, which was later published as Christ in Eternity and Time: Contemporary Anglican Perspectives.
Following his return from Rome he was appointed as a lecturer in systematic theology at St Patrick’s College, Carlow. Three years later he returned to Raphoe Diocese as both chaplain in Pobalscoil na Rossan and curate in the parish of Dungloe.
He was appointed as Bishop of Ossory by Pope Francis in October 2022.
