Bishop Mathew Gaffney was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath.
Mathew Gaffney was born in Mountnugent, Co. Cavan, on 2 January 1839. He began his studies for the priesthood at St. Finian's Seminary, Navan before going to Maynooth College and was ordained in 1864. Fr Gaffney worked as a teacher in St. Mary's College, Mullingar and he also served time as a curate in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, before becoming parish priest in Clara, Co. Offaly, Monsignor Gaffney became Vicar General of the Diocese of Meath.
In 1899 he was appointed Bishop of Meath, succeeding Bishop Nulty. During his tenure as Bishop, Gaffney oversaw the building of St. Finian's, Mullingar, where the diocesan seminary in Navan moved to, and began the development of the new Cathedral.
He retired due to ill health, in 1906, and was succeeded by Dr. Laurence Gaughran. Bishop Gaffney died in 1909, and was buried in the Franciscan Abbey at Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath. In 2009, one hundred years after his death Bishop Gaffney was reburied in the grounds of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar.
References
- Canning, Bernard (1988). Bishops of Ireland 1870-1987. Ballyshannon: Donegal Democrat. p. 146. ISBN 1870963008.
- Bishop Mathew Gaffney
- Bishop who set Cathedral plans in motion is re-interred in its shadow by Paul Hughes, Westmeath Independent, 4 November 2009. Archived 14 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Find a Grave
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byThomas Nulty | Bishop of Meath 1899–1906 |
Succeeded byLaurence Gaughran |