Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen (born April 29, 1803, near Ballitore, County Kildare, Ire.—died Oct. 24, 1878, Dublin) was the archbishop of Dublin who became the first Irish cardinal.

Educated at the Quaker School, Carlow, Cullen joined the Urban College of Propaganda, Rome, and was ordained priest in 1829. He became rector of the Irish National College in Rome. During the Mazzini revolution of 1848 he was rector of the Urban College. In 1850 he became successor to the important archdiocese of Armagh. Taking a strong position on the educational question that was then agitating Ireland, Cullen played a leading part in the national movement of 1850–52. In May 1852 he went to Dublin, where a divergence of opinion soon erupted between him and the extreme nationalists. His distrust of the national movement intensified, and in 1853 he forbade his clergy to publicly participate in politics. In 1866 Cullen was appointed cardinal, and he was a celebrated infallibilist at the first Vatican Council (1869–70). The Catholic University of Ireland is a memorial to his zeal.