Limerick had been without a bishop since Bishop Donal Murray's controversial resignation in 2009.
Organisers expect a crowd of about 1,500 in St John's Cathedral for the ceremony.
A Professor of Systematic Theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, he was born into a family of four in Crumlin, Dublin.
He studied law at University College Dublin and was called to the bar in 1983.
He will be conferred by Dr Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel.