Joseph Duffy (born 3 February 1934) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher in Ireland, a position he held from 1979 until his retirement on 6 May 2010.
After his ordination he continued his studies in Irish and completed a thesis on the dialect of south County Tipperary for a master's degree in the National University of Ireland (the NUI) in 1960.
During these years he was involved in PACE (Protestant and Catholic Encounter) and served on the committee of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (the UAHS.)
On 7 July 1979, Duffy was named Bishop-elect of Clogher, the first Irish bishop to be appointed by Pope John Paul II.
[2] Gaetano Alibrandi, Titular Archbishop of Binda, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland,[3] and Patrick Mulligan, the Bishop Emeritus of Clogher,[4] acted as the Principal Co–Consecrators.
[8][9] Duffy also admitted that he was previously party to least one civil settlement between the Diocese of Clogher and claimants of clerical sexual abuse, where the alleged victims were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of the resolution.
[10] In the same year, Duffy was summoned to the Vatican for a meeting with Benedict XVI to discuss what prior knowledge he had about allegations of sexual abuse of children against clergy members within Clogher diocese.