Elphin Diocesan Archives

At present, there is no facility for researchers to visit the Elphin Diocesan Archive. A limited amount of assistance may be given to researchers by the Diocesan Archivist, but queries should contain as much detail as possible. Please note that the archivist works part-time on a voluntary basis, so we ask for your patience while waiting for a response to your queries.

The Elphin Diocesan Archive is a private archive, maintained in a location which is not immediately accessible or open to the public. Queries should be directed to the archivist, Patricia Doran, who can be contacted via email at [email protected] 

The archive contains items of historical interest relating to parishes, and administrative matters relating to the diocese. Not all material is catalogued, and none of the catalogues are available electronically. Work on cataloguing is ongoing.

If your research relates to family history/genealogy, please see our Guidelines for Family History Research

The vast majority of the material held in the Diocesan Archive comprises the papers of seven successive bishops of Elphin covering the period 1856 to 2014, with the Archive possessing only a small amount of material covering the bishops prior to 1856. Of these, the collections of three bishops have been catalogued. Material dated after 1922 (i.e. less than 100 years old) is not yet open for research.

Bishops of Elphin

Lawrence Gillooly (1856 – 1895) – Catalogued

John J. Clancy (1895 – 1912) – Catalogued

Bernard Coyne (1912 – 1926) – Catalogued

On our This month in the archive section, each month you will find a post about anniversaries of the month, projects in progress or notes of interesting finds in the archive.