Diocese of Elphin
Anglican diocese in Ireland
The Diocese of Elphin (el-FIN) was established following the Synod of Rathbreasail in the year 1118. In that year the see for east Connacht was moved from Roscommon. Elphin was the traditional site of a monastic house established by St Patrick c. 450, although there are no remains of that date.
Following the Reformation, there were parallel dioceses. The Church of Ireland diocese continued from the 16th until the 19th century but since 1841 has been part of the united Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh.
A new Church of Ireland bishop's palace (i.e. official residence) was built in the 1720s to the central block and flanking pavilions plan that is very common in Irish country houses of this period. The main block of the bishop's house was destroyed by fire early in the 20th century and was subsequently demolished, but the ruins of the pavilions survive together with the curtain walls that linked them to the main house. The mediaeval cathedral was also rebuilt in the eighteenth century. It was a modest building no bigger than a small parish church with a tall square clock tower at its west end.
“Diocese of Elphin” enters the record as anglican diocese in Ireland. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Diocese, Elphin and Anglican can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Diocese of Elphin” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Diocese, Elphin and Anglican provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 11, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q5278871. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1118 and 1841.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Diocese of Elphin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Diocese of Elphin primary sources, Diocese of Elphin archive and Diocese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Diocese of Elphin”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Diocese of Elphin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.