bp Martin Ashe

Martin Ashe (born 27 September 1953) is an Irish-Australian Catholic bishop and has served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne since 2021. Prior to this, he held various roles in Melbourne, including serving in multiple parishes, as pastoral director at Corpus Christi College Seminary, and as director of Ministry to Priests.

Born in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, Ashe grew up in Killarney, County Kerry, as the eldest of 11 children in a devout Catholic family. His uncle was a priest in Australia, and many of his cousins were in religious congregations. Ashe served as an altar server at St Mary's Cathedral and entered All Hallow College, Dublin, in 1971, preparing for the priesthood.

Ordained by Archbishop Tomas O'Fiaich in June 1978, Ashe was appointed a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He initially served in Hadfield, then in Clayton and Blackburn. In the late 1980s, he became vocations director, and later undertook studies at Loyola University Chicago. Ashe was parish priest of Sunbury from 1996 to 2004, director of Ministry to Priests from 2005, and parish priest of Christ the Light from 2012 until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop.