Conroy, George Michael (1831–78), catholic bishop of Ardagh, was born into ‘a Levitical family’ (Monahan), son of Nicholas Conroy, on 30 December 1831 in Park St., Dundalk, Co. Louth, and educated at a primary school at Dromiskeen, a classical school at Dundalk, the diocesan college (St Patrick's) at Armagh and the Propaganda College, Rome. After ordination as a priest (6 June 1857), he returned to Ireland to serve as professor of dogmatic theology at All Hallows College, Dublin, which trained priests for foreign missions (1857–66), and as secretary (1866–71) to Paul Cullen (qv), cardinal archbishop of Dublin. The latter position was combined with those of professor of dogmatic theology at the Dublin diocesan seminary, Holy Cross College, Drumcondra, and chaplain to Mountjoy prison. Conroy was joint editor with Patrick Francis Moran (qv) of the newly founded catholic clerical journal, the Irish Ecclesiastical Record (1864–71).
When his uncle, Michael Kiernan (qv), archbishop of Armagh, died (1869), Conroy was strongly recommended as his successor by Cullen but rejected by the diocesan clergy. Soon he was nominated bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise (12 February 1871) and consecrated at Longford (11 April). The height of his career was his nomination as apostolic delegate to Canada (10 April 1877). His purpose was to bring about episcopal unity and to reduce clerical intervention in politics; his main concern seems to have been the French Canadian bishops, whose relations with the state were difficult. His mission completed, Conroy toured the USA, going as far west as California. On his way back to Europe he died, aged 46, at St John's, Newfoundland, on 4 August 1878 and was buried sixteen days later at St Joseph's Convent, Longford. Conroy knew Latin, Greek, Italian and French well, and was an excellent writer and preacher in English. His Occasional sermons, addresses and essays (1884) were edited by Joseph Hoare.