Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin Dioecesis Kildarensis et Leighlinensis Deoise Chill Dara agus Leithghlinne
The Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow.
Location
Country	Republic of Ireland
Territory	County Carlow, parts of counties Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Wexford
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Dublin
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Dublin
Statistics
Area	1,608 sq mi (4,160 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 220,427 205,185 (93.1%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	United 29 November 1694
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow
Patron saint	Kildare: St Brigid and St Conleth Leighlin: St Lazerian
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Denis Nulty Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin
Metropolitan Archbishop	Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin
Emeritus Bishops	James Moriarty, Bishop Emeritus of Kildare and Leighlin
Map
Website
kandle.ie

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (/ˈlɔːxlᵻn/; Irish: Deoise Chill Dara agus Leithghlinn) is a Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the Archdiocese of Dublin. On 7 May 2013, the Most Reverend Denis Nulty was appointed bishop-elect of the diocese.

The united diocese includes virtually all of County Carlow, most of County Kildare and parts of counties Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow. The largest towns in the diocese are Athy, Carlow, Edenderry, Kildare, Naas, Newbridge, Portarlington and Portlaoise.

These two dioceses continued to be separate from their foundation until 1678, when, owing to the extreme tenuity of the episcopal revenues, the bishopric of Leighlin was given in commendam by the Holy See to the Bishop of Kildare. The Cathedral Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the town of Carlow.