Monsignor Denis Brennan is the first Wexford man to be appointed Catholic Bishop of Ferns in almost 70 years. Bishop William Codd, who died on March 12th, 1938, was the last bishop of the diocese who was also from the county.
From Rathnure, near Enniscorthy, Mgr Brennan (60) is parish priest at Taghmon, Co Wexford. He succeeds Bishop Brendan Comiskey who resigned in April 2002.
In the intervening four years the diocese has been overseen by Bishop Eamonn Walsh, an auxiliary bishop of Dublin appointed apostolic administrator to Ferns on Bishop Comiskey's resignation.
Bishop Walsh will continue in his role at Ferns until Mgr Brennan is consecrated bishop, expected to take place on Sunday, April 23rd. The announcement of Mgr Brennan's appointment, made at a brief photo-call outside St Aidan's cathedral, Enniscorthy yesterday, has been warmly welcomed by the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, and the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin.
Bishop Walsh was applauded when he spoke yesterday of marking "a new beginning for the diocese . . . a great day for the diocese and a great day for Wexford".
He said that over the past four years he could not have administered Ferns without the support of Mgr Brennan as child protection delegate and Vicar Forane.
Mgr Brennan said he was honoured and surprised to have been asked by the Holy Father to be Bishop of Ferns. "It is not a call I ever expected to receive but since I have received it, I will, with the help of God and the priests and people of the diocese respond to it as faithfully and lovingly as I can."
He expressed his gratitude to Bishop Walsh and said: "Since Bishop Eamonn came to us four years ago he has thrown himself heart and soul into the life and work of our diocese. We will never be able to repay him."
Later, Bishop Walsh said that any difficulty he had faced since being appointed to Ferns was "far overshadowed by the sense of joy I had from the co-operation and help I received from the priests and people".
He also felt he owed them a debt for fine-tuning his sensitivity to child protection issues. He would now return to give full-time attention to his duties as auxiliary bishop in Dublin - overseeing the Tallaght, South Dublin and deanery of Athy areas of the archdiocese.
Mgr Denis Brennan
"Very proud" to be the first Wexford man in so long to become Bishop of Ferns, Mgr Denis Brennan looked forward to a happy future in the diocese. "We have been through dark times but we look forward, without forgetting what happened - which will be part of our story forever." Mgr Brennan was born on June 20th, 1945, at Rathnure and attended school at Kiltealy before going to St Peter's secondary school in Wexford. In 1964 he entered the seminary there and was ordained on May 31st, 1970. He was appointed to the House of Missions in Enniscorthy and for 16 years conducted retreats in Ireland, England and Canada. In 1986 he became administrator at St Senan's parish, Enniscorthy, and was appointed parish priest at Taghmon in 1997. Currently he is child protection delegate for Ferns and has been Vicar Forane for the Wexford deanery.