Archbishop Michael Neary studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. He was ordained in the Cathedral of the Assumption, Tuam, in 1971. Archbishop Neary undertook postgraduate studies in theology and was awarded a doctor of divinity degree in Maynooth in 1975. After three years of ministering in the diocese, he studied Sacred Scripture in Rome and was awarded the L.S.S. in 1981. From 1982 until his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Tuam in 1992, he taught at the National Seminary in Maynooth. Since 1995, he has been Archbishop of Tuam.