Born in Dublin on April 8th, 1945, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attended school with the Oblates in Inchicore, the De La Salle Brothers in Ballyfermot, and at Marian College, Ballsbridge.
At UCD he studied philosophy, and theology at the seminary in Clonliffe. Ordained in May 1969, he studied moral theology at the Angelicum University in Rome before returning to Dublin as curate in Cabinteely in 1973.
He joined the Vatican’s Council for the Family in 1976 and in 1986 was appointed under-secretary at the Council for Justice and Peace. In 1994 he became its secretary.
In the 1990s he represented the Holy See at major international UN conferences, as well as at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on debt reduction.
In January 1999 he was ordained Bishop of Glendalough by Emeritus Pope John Paul at St Peter's Basilica and in 2001 he was appointed archbishop and papal nuncio as the Vatican's permanent observer at the UN and World Trade Organisation in Geneva. In May 2003 he was appointed coadjutor (with right to succeed) Archbishop of Dublin and in April 2004 he succeeded Cardinal Desmond Connell in that post.
