Ordination of Fr Donal Roche as Auxiliary Bishop and welcoming of Bishop Paul Dempsey

The Ordination of Fr Donal Roche as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin and the welcoming of Bishop Paul Dempsey as he begins his ministry as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin took place during Mass yesterday at St Andrew’s Church in Westland Row.

The principal consecrator, celebrant of the Mass and homilist was Archbishop Dermot Farrell, Archbishop of Dublin.

 The co-consecrators were Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick, and Bishop Éamonn Walsh, Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin.

Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, was also in attendance. 

 The announcement that Fr Roche would be ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin was made by Pope Francis on March 5. 

Born in 1958 , Fr Roche grew up in Drimnagh, one of a family of seven children. He attended both primary and secondary school at Drimnagh Castle CBS. 

Pic shows new Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin Donal Roche and Paul Dempsey walking among the people at the mass on Sunday. Pic John Mc Elroy.

Fr Roche worked for four years as a clerical officer in Dublin County Council before entering Clonliffe College in 1980 to study for the priesthood.

He was sent to Maynooth to study for a degree in theology and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1986 in his home parish of Mourne Road. 

His first appointment was a period of six years as a priest-teacher in Coláiste Dhúlaigh, Coolock.

He then spent five years as a diocesan adviser for religious education in primary schools.

This was followed by eight years as chaplain to St Mark’s Community School, Tallaght. 

Fr Roche’s first parish appointment was in Lucan South, where he spent seven years.

Pic shows Archbishop Dermot Farrell with the two new Auxiliary Bishops of Dublin Paul Dempsey and Donal Roche photographed after the mass on Sunday. Pic John Mc Elroy.

This was a time of broadening the experience of ministry beyond schools to accompany people of all ages on the journey of faith, from baptisms, weddings and funerals to the everyday experiences of parish life, building and strengthening the faith life of the community. 

This was followed by 11 years in Wicklow Town, also looking after the surrounding areas of Kilbride, Barndarrig and Brittas Bay for four of those years.

This mixture of town and rural areas gave him a great experience of the richness of the Archdiocese and its many different and distinct communities. 

Bishop Paul Dempsey was born in Carlow in 1971 snd grew up in Athy which is in the Archdiocese of Dublin.  

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1997 for the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, a diocese which borders Dublin and shares its demographic.  

There his parish ministry as priest and his service as a member of the College of Consultors made a significant contribution to the life of urban Kildare, Carlow and beyond.