Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen (born April 29, 1803, near Ballitore, County Kildare, Ireland—died October 24, 1878, Dublin) was an Irish prelate who was the archbishop of Armagh (1850–52) and Dublin (1852–78) and became the first Irish bishop to be elevated to the rank of cardinal. Cullen’s reforms of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland in the mid-19th century are credited with shaping the country’s religious character well into the 20th century.

He was educated at the Quaker school in Ballitore, Kildare, and at Carlow College, St. Patrick’s. Cullen joined the Pontifical Urban College of Propaganda Fide in Rome in 1820 and was ordained a priest in 1829. He became rector of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome in 1832. During Giuseppe Mazzini’s revolution of 1848, which tried to unify the Italian states into a republic and ultimately expel the pope from Rome, Cullen was rector of the Urban College while retaining his position at the Irish College. The revolutionaries attempted to dissolve and confiscate the Urban College for their new government, but Cullen’s actions helped save the institution.

In 1850 Cullen became the successor to the important archdiocese of Armagh. Taking a strong position on the question that was then agitating Ireland regarding national schools and the education of Catholic children, Cullen played a leading role in the national movement of 1850–52. In 1850 he convened a synod in Thurles, Tipperary, to inaugurate a program of ecclesiastical reform. Among his strategies was to invite religious orders to Ireland to set up schools and charities and serve as an example of piety to parishioners. He also established rules to bring the administration of sacraments and celebration of mass into line with that of the Roman church. Cullen’s efforts transformed Irish Catholicism, ushering in a period described as a “devotional revolution.”

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

In May 1852 Cullen became the archbishop of Dublin, where a divergence of opinion soon erupted between him and the extreme nationalists. His distrust of the militant elements of the national movement intensified, and in 1853 he forbade his clergy from publicly participating in politics. In 1866 Cullen was appointed cardinal by Pope Pius IX, and he was a celebrated proponent of the doctrine of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council (1869–70). The Catholic University of Ireland (now called University College Dublin) is a memorial to Cullen’s zeal.

Cullen died in 1878 and was buried beneath the high altar in the chapel of Holy Cross College in Clonliffe, Dublin (which he founded in 1859). In 2018 the college was put up for sale, and in 2021 Cullen’s remains were moved to St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin.