There are twenty-three parishes in the diocese. Eleven of these are in Co. Sligo, eleven in Co. Mayo and one, the Cathedral Parish, is partially in Co. Roscommon.
It is a rural diocese featuring a number of mid-sized towns, like Tubbercurry, Ballaghaderreen, Charlestown, Foxford, Kiltimagh, Collooney and Swinford but is mainly comprised of rural townlands and villages. There are approximately 35,000 Catholics living in the diocese.
Wikipedia has quite an interesting article on the Diocese and it may be viewed at this link.
Among the information included is a list of bishops of the diocese since the Reformation.
We will include this list here.
List of bishops since the Reformation:[3][4]
- Thomas O’Fihely (1547–1555)
- Cormac O’Coyn (1556–1561)
- Eugene O’Hart (1562–1603)
- See vacant (1603–1629)
- Andrew Lynch (Vicar Apostolic, appointed 1629)
- James Fallon (Vicar Apostolic 1631–1662)
- Maurice Durcan (Vicar Apostolic, appointed 1677)
- Hugh MacDermot (Vicar Apostolic 1684–1707, Bishop 1707–1725)
- Dominic O’Daly (1725–1735)
- John O’Hart (1735–1739)
- Walter Blake (1739–1758)
- Patrick Robert Kirwan (1758–1776)
- Philip Phillips (1776–1785)
- Boetius Egan (1785–1787)
- Thomas O’Connor (1788–1803)
- Charles Lynagh (1803–1808)
- John O’Flynn (1809–1817)
- Patrick MacNicholas (1818–1852)
- Patrick Durcan (1852–1875)
- Francis McCormack (1875–1887)
- John Lyster (1888–1911)
- Patrick Morrisroe (1911–1946)
- James Fergus (1947–1976)
- Thomas Flynn (1976–2007)
- Brendan Kelly (2007–2017)
- Sede Vacante