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| Photo from diocesan website |
Report from the Irish Times, 25th June: "The remains of Ireland’s first cardinal and architect of the Catholic Church on this island were removed from Clonliffe College in Dublin this morning and reinterred at the Pro-Cathedral crypt in the city centre. Since his death in 1878 Cardinal Cullen has rested beneath the high altar of the chapel at Clonliffe, a college he founded in 1854. Clonliffe’s recent sale meant his body had to be reinterred in the Pro-Cathedral crypt. The ceremony was marked by a liturgy presided over by Archbishop Dermot Farrell, Cardinal Cullen’s successor as Archbishop of Dublin. Also in attendance was Msgr Ciarán O’Carroll, administrator at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook and Cardinal Cullen’s successor as former rector of the Irish College in Rome. Msgr O’Carroll is also author of the 2009 biography Paul Cardinal Cullen : Portrait of a Practical Nationalist."
Msgr O'Carroll (seen in photo above) was parish priest of Saggart, Rathcoole and Brittas from 2004 to 2008. (Newcastle was a parish of its own from 1974 to 2010.) For the life of Cardinal Cullen see the Dictionary of Irish Biography here.
The proposed sale of Clonliffe College was announced on the diocesan website on 10 October 2018 (see here ). The seminary set up by Cardinal Cullen in 1854 closed in 2000, with future clerical students being sent to Maynooth College for their formation. And so now, with the completion of the sale of the seminary buildings, a major chapter in the history of the Dublin diocese comes to an end.
Archbishop Martin in his announcement outlined the shape of the future thus: "The proposed sale of Clonliffe buildings and lands will allow the Diocese to reinvest in people-led pastoral programmes as the Church in Dublin looks to different forms of ministry in the coming years. This would include investing in vocations and the ongoing formation of lay people and priests. Working Together for Mission involves integrating the respective roles of priests, deacons, religious, full-time lay ministries and the establishment of communities that involve the wider activity of all. It will be about men and women who have the ability to speak the language of faith authentically in a world where that language may be alien and to speak in a way that attracts."
