Thomas Ryan (8 February 1915 – 21 August 1983) was an Irish prelate[1] who served as Bishop of Clonfert.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1943, serving on the staff of Archbishop Roncalli/Pope John XXIII who was apostolic delegate to Turkey and Greece.
In 1961 he accompanied Gregorio Pietro Agagianian papal legate to the patrician year celebrations; while in February 1963 he represented the Vatican secretariat of state at the funeral of John D'Alton, archbishop of Armagh.
The most public, and perhaps the most enduring aspect of his episcopal ministry has become known as "The Bishop and the Nightie" and dates from Feb 1966 when Bishop Ryan denounced from the pulpit the very popular RTÉ chat show host Gay Byrne for asking a married couple about the colour of her nightdress on the night of her honeymoon.
Bishop Ryan urged congregation in his Cathedral to register its protest ‘in any manner you think fit, so as to show the producers in Irish television, that you, as decent Catholics, will not tolerate programmes of this nature.’ This intervention was widely regarded as clerical outrage out of step with wider public opinion.