1720 AD
Dingle as an episcopal residence in penal times
Denis Moriarty, parish priest of Dingle, and who was born in its vicinity in 1653, was appointed Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe (Kerry). As early as 1703 he had been recommended for the mitre by the exiled king, James II. Moriarty had been educated in France and was ordained by the Archbishop of Rheims in 1677. He achieved a certain notoriety for having delivered Pope Alexander VII`s interdict to Louis XIV at Versailles during the Gallican Church controversy. In 1704, Moriarty returned to Dingle as parish priest. As bishop, he continued to minister in Dingle and the local chapel served as his pro-cathedral. According to tradition he resided at Lough, on the edge of Dingle town. He died in 1737 and he was succeeded by Bishop Eoin ? S?illeabh?in, who also resided in Dingle, where he ministered as parish priest until 1743. The ease with which these bishops lived in Dingle suggests that penal legislation was not enforced locally.
