Quick Facts
Biography
Laurence Forristal (born 1931) is a retired Irish Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Ossory from 1981 to 2007.
Early life and education
Born in Thomastown, County Kilkenny on 5 June 1931, Forristal was educated locally at Mercy Convent primary school and the Boys' National School in Thomastown, and at Mount St Joseph College, Roscrea. He studied for the priesthood at Clonliffe College, Dublin, and studied philosophy at University College, Dublin. He pursued further studies at the Propaganda Fide College in Rome and was ordained there as a priest for the Diocese of Ossory on 21 December 1955.
Episcopal career
He was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin and Titular Bishop of Rotdon on 3 December 1979 and received episcopal ordination on 20 January 1980. The following year, he was appointed the Diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Ossory on 30 June 1981.
Bishop Forristal retired on 14 September 2007 and assumed the title Bishop Emeritus of Ossory.