By Kathleen Livingston

Paul Cullen was born on April 29 th , 1803 at Prospect, on the Athy - Ballytore road. He received his first education at the Quaker school in Ballitore. At the age of 13 he went to Carlow College, College St., Carlow and later at 17 years of age he went to Rome to train as a priest. He was ordained in 1829 and became Rector of the Irish College in Rome. In 1850 Paul Cullen returned to Ireland to take up the appointment as Archbishop of Armagh. He was appointed Apostolic Delegate of the Pope and his first task was to convene a notional synod in Thurles.

In 1852 he became the new Archbishop of Dublin and immediately set about upgrading the quality of the church. Countless churches, schools, hospitals and asylums were built. He established the Catholic University of Ireland, now UCD, and his own seminary, Holy Cross College in Clonliffe. In 1866 he became the first Irishman to be promoted to the rank of Cardinal.

Parochial records show that Cardinal Cullen administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 197 children at Crookstown on 7 th August 1854. Cardinal Cullen died at his residence in Eccles Street, Dublin on October 24, 1878 and, at his own request, was buried beneath he High Altar of the Chapel of Holy Cross College, Clonliffe.

In his memory there is a stained glass window in the church of St Mary and St Laurence, Crookstown