THE first woman bishop in Britain and Ireland has been appointed in the diocese of Meath & Kildare, Ireland.

The Revd Pat Storey, Rector of St Augustine's, Londonderry, was appointed by the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland at a meeting in Dublin on Thursday.

She will succeed Dr Richard Clarke, who is now Archbishop of Armagh.

Mrs Storey said that she was "both excited and daunted" by the appointment, an "enormous privilege".

The appointment of the new Bishop passed to the House of Bishops after the Episcopal Electoral College, which met on 28 May, failed to make an appointment (News, 31 May).

The College had reconvened after the Ven. Leslie Stevenson, Archdeacon of Meath and Kildare, stood down as Bishop-elect to Meath & Kildare, after press reports highlighted that he would be the first divorced bishop in the history of the Church of Ireland, and that he had had a relationship after his first marriage failed ( News, 3 May).

On Friday, Dr Clarke said: "Having known Pat Storey since she was an undergraduate and I was Chaplain at Trinity College, Dublin, I very much welcome her as a new bishop. She is a person of great warmth, intelligence, and spiritual depth."

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, said that the appointment "brings delight to many within the dioceses, across the Church of Ireland and throughout the Anglican Communion".

Mrs Storey, who is 53, has been Rector of St Augustine's since 2004. She is married to the Revd Earl Storey and has two adult children.

She grew up in Belfast and studied French and English at Trinity College, Dublin, before training at the Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute). Ordained deacon in 1997 and priest in 1998, she served a curacy in Ballymena (Connor) and was a Team Vicar in Glenavy in the same diocese.

She is a member of the standing committee of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland.