Installation of Dermot Farrell as Archbishop of Dublin

The installation of Dermot Farrell as Archbishop of Dublin will take place tomorrow Tuesday February 2 in St Mary’s Pro Cathedral at 10.30am. The Principal Celebrant will be Archbishop Farrell, he will be joined by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and His Excellency Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland.

Ahead of the Mass of Thanksgiving Archbishop Farrell said: “Since my appointment by Pope Francis on December 29, I have been overwhelmed by the good wishes and support extended to me as I embark upon my new ministry as Archbishop of Dublin.

“I am acutely conscious that, to be effective, my broad pastoral role will require collaboration with many people and will involve difficult decisions.

“I will continue to keep you all in my prayers and I ask that you please pray that the Holy Spirit will help guide and strengthen me in my new role as Archbishop.”

Due to public health restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this will not be a public Mass. However, people are invited to participate in the Mass which will be livestreamed on the cathedral webcam at dublindiocese.ie, as well as on the Facebook page of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Life and ministry of Archbishop-elect Dermot Farrell:

Dermot Farrell was born in 1954, the eldest of seven children of the late Dermot and Carmel Farrell, in Garthy, Castletown Geoghegan, in the Diocese of the Meath.

After his primary education in Castletown Geoghegan and Streamstown, he attended St Finian’s College, Mullingar. In September 1972 he began his studies for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, obtaining a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1976, as part of his philosophical studies.

During his theological studies he was awarded a Bachelor in Divinity Degree in 1979 and a licence is Theology in 1981, both by the Pontifical University, Maynooth.

He was ordained to the priesthood in St Michael’s Church, Castletown Geoghegan on June 7, 1980.

On the completion of his studies he was appointed as Curate in the Cathedral Parish of Christ the King, Mullingar.

In 1985 he began doctoral studies in the Gregorian University and, in 1988, was awarded a Doctoral Degree in Theology, for a dissertation entitled: The Dogmatic Foundations of Bernard Häring’s Thought on Christian Morality as a Sacramental Way of Life.

In his final year in Rome he also served as a director of Formation in the Pontifical Irish College.

Following his return from Rome he was appointed Curate in Tullamore Parish and in 1989-90 he began lecturing in Moral Theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

In 1990 the Maynooth College Trustees appointed him executive assistant to the president of the college and to membership of the Faculty of Theology, holding the post of director of the one-year Religious Studies Programme.

In 1993 he was appointed vice-president of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and in 1996 was appointed president of the college, a position he held until his retirement in 2007.

In 1997 he was named as an Honorary Prelate of his Holiness. From September 2007 until 2018 he served as parish priest of Dunboyne and Kilbride Parish, County Meath, and was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Meath in 2009.

Bishop Farrell has extensive administrative experience: he has served on various boards and committees, among them, the board of Allianz plc; the governing body of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth; the Theological Department Irish Inter-Church Committee, and as national director of the Permanent Diaconate, and he is currently chairman of Veritas Communications.

His appointment as Bishop of Ossory by Pope Francis was announced on January 3, 2018, and he was ordained bishop in St Mary’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, on March 11, 2018.

He was elected finance secretary of the Irish Bishops Conference in March 2019.

The Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Archbishop-elect Dermot Farrell as Archbishop of Dublin on December 29, 2020.

Bishop Farrell’s episcopal motto Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini (‘Our help is in the name of the Lord’) is taken from Psalm 124.

President Higgins sends message to Archbishop Martin and Archbishop Farrell

President Michael D. Higgins has sent a message of goodwill to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin wishing him well on his retirement and paying tribute to him for meeting so many challenges with courage, tenacity and compassion.

“Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has my best wishes for a retirement with health and fulfilment. Sabina and I will keep the warmth of his welcomes to us in our hearts.

“Archbishop Diarmuid Martin faced many challenges in administration and necessary changes. His forthrightness in sharing these challenges with the public and his personal responses with courage, tenacity and compassion will be remembered with affection and appreciation.

"May I send his successor Archbishop Dermot Farrell every good wish for now and the future in the great challenges he undertakes.”