Denis Nulty


Denis Nulty KC*HS is the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, Ireland.

Early Life and Priestly Ministry

Denis Nulty was born in Slane, County Meath 7 June 1963, the youngest of five children. He was educated locally at St. Patrick's National School, Slane and St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan, County Meath, from where he went to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, obtaining a BA in 1984 and BD in 1987, he was ordained in 1988 for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath. Fr. Nulty took further studies in All Hallows College Dublin, in 2006 and was awarded an MA in Management for the Pastoral and Voluntary Services by Dublin City University.
He served as a curate in Mullingar for ten years until being appointed Parish Priest of Saint Mary’s, Drogheda in 1998.

Episcopal Ministry

In May 2013, Pope Francis named Fr. Nulty as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin.
He was ordained on 4 August 2013 by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Upon his ordination, Nulty became the youngest bishop in Ireland, succeeding Archbishop Eamon Martin by two years. In light of the Government decision to hold a referendum on gay marriage in 2015, Bishop Nulty said in November 2013 said there is always a necessity to treat homosexuals with compassion. He added that the very nature of marriage and children and their importance to society is worth protecting. He said: "The Catholic Church will continue to hold that the differences between a man and woman are not accidental to marriage but fundamental to it and that children have a natural right to a mother and a father and that this is the best environment for them where possible."
In May 2019 he issued a statement ahead of the referendum on the question of lowering the threshold for divorce suggesting "the objective of the proposed referendum is not to support marriage, rather to liberalise divorce.... tt is imperative that we continue to work together to promote marriage and family.”
He is active on social media, one of the few Irish bishops to tweet regularly and engage more widely with his diocese - @BishopDNulty