In 1970 he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Isfahan. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Isfahan of the Latins on 25 October 1974. He remained in Iran until the Islamic Revolution; he was expelled in 1980. He returned to Ireland and with no prospect of returning to Iran he submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II in 1982. In 1991 he moved to the Sacred Heart nursing home in Raheny, where he died in 2004.