Courtney McGrailBishop Dermot O’Mahony, emeritus auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, died on December 10 aged 80, following a lengthy illness.
In 1975 Bishop O’Mahony became one of the youngest bishops ever appointed in Ireland when he was made auxiliary bishop aged just 40. He chaired the Irish Bishops’ Commission for Justice and Peace during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and was active in supporting chaplains in the Maze prison. He retired as auxiliary bishop on health grounds in June 1996.
Bishop O’Mahony was sharply criticised in the Murphy Report over his handling of clerical abuse cases and issued an apology in 2009 saying he profoundly regretted “that any action or inaction of mine should have contributed to the suffering of even a single child”.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has expressed his sympathy to the family and friends of Bishop O’ Mahony and said priests of the archdiocese were saddened by the news of his passing.