Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (; ) 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.
County Offaly out across the county with the Bog of Allen extending into four other counties. The county consists of approximately 42,000 hectares of peatlands which is 21% of Offaly's total land area. Offaly contains approximately of forest and woodland area, which only amounts to 4.5% of the county's land area. This includes woodlands within the Slieve Blooms and the Lough Boora Parklands. Roughly 75% of Offaly's forested area is Conifer High Forest. The following are the historical baronies located in County Offaly: One of the earliest known settlements in County Offaly is at Boora bog which dates back to the Mesolithic