Catholic University

Catholic University, founded by the Irish bishops in 1854 with strong papal encouragement as a response to the ‘godless’ Queen's Colleges. The founding rector was the distinguished English convert John Henry Newman, whose The Idea of a University had its origins in lectures he delivered in Dublin, and whose appointments to the academic staff included Gerard Manley Hopkins and Eugene O'Curry (as professor of archaeology and Irish history). Both temperamentally and philosophically Newman's relations with the hierarchy, and especially with MacHale (who particularly resented Cullen's predominant role), were at times uneasy. Furthermore, the institution, lacking a charter and state funding, struggled to survive, though its medical school in Cecilia Street, Dublin, achieved a considerable reputation. After five years as rector Newman resigned, despite efforts by the bishops and others to persuade him to remain. In 1882 the Catholic University was assigned one‐half of the fellow‐ships of the newly created Royal University of Ireland, for whose degrees its students were eligible. In 1883, as University College, Dublin, it came under Jesuit control, with Fr. William Delany as president.

Kenneth Milne