Charles McNally

Charles McNally (1787 – 21 November 1864) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher in Ireland.

Born at the townland of Ardaghy in County Monaghan, he was a priest in the Diocese of Clogher, entering Maynooth in 1808, aged 21 matriculating in Logic, he was ordained on 13 June 1813. In 1815 he was appointed Prefect and Professor of the Dunboyne Establishment at Maynooth College.

He was appointed the Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Clogher in Ireland in September 1843 and became bishop on 20 February 1844, following the death of his predecessor Bishop Edward Kernan.^[1] He died in office in on 21 November 1864 having served as bishop of his diocese for over twenty years. McNally was succeeded by Bishop James Donnelly.

Bishop McNally's most enduring accomplishment is undoubtedly the decision to build Monaghan's St. Macartan's Cathedral.^[2] The bishop presided at a meeting of the Catholics of Monaghan where it was resolved that a church in the town was urgently needed. He then purchased an 8-acre (32,000 m²) site on the outskirts of the town from Humphrey Jones of Clontibret. On 21 June 1861, the foundation stone was solemnly laid in the presence of most of the bishops of Ireland.

References

1. ↑ History of Bishop McNally
2. ↑ Decision to build St. Macartan's Cathedral

See also

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher