John Hugh Cullen (1883–1970), was an Irish-born Catholic priest, writer and historian, who served in Australia. Cullen was born on 14 June 1883, in Kilquade, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, to Michael Cullen and his wife Mary (née Troy). He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Dublin, and at

Mungret College Mungret College was a Jesuit apostolic school and a lay secondary school near Limerick, Ireland. Located on the western outskirts of the modern-day suburban town of Raheen, it was operational from 1882 until 1974 when it closed as a school f ...

, Co. Limerick awarded a BA from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the ''University Education (Ireland) Act 1879'' as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on 27 Apri ...

(RUI). Fr. Cullen spent four years training as a missionary priest in

All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing down, due to decreasing student numbers. The sale o ...

, Dublin, for the Australian Diocese of Hobart, he was ordained a priest on 24 June 1908. He continued his studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He was instrumental in the foundation of St. Joseph's School Hobart. He contributed to a number of Catholic publications in Australia such as the ''Catholic Standard'', ''Australasian Catholic Record'', and founded the monthly ''Catholic Magazine'' with A. E. Warne. As a historian he researched and wrote about the Catholic church in Tasmania, he also wrote comprehensively on Robert Willson, the first bishop of Hobart in a series of articles in the ''Australasian Catholic Record'', which became a biography of him and is the basis of the biographical entry he wrote for the

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

.Willson, Robert William (1794–1866)
by J. H. Cullen, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, (MUP), 1967. Two of his brothers, Arthur Cullen (1889–1939) and Joseph Cullen (1892–1951), followed him into the priesthood, also training at All Hallows, and also qualified with degrees from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

(which replaced the RUI). He died on 17 November 1970, and is buried in

Cornelian Bay Cemetery Cornelian Bay Cemetery is a cemetery in Cornelian Bay, Tasmania, Australia. It is the oldest cemetery in Tasmania that remains in use. History The cemetery location, a section of the former Government Farm site, was selected in the late 1860s, ...

Books

* ''Young Ireland In Exile: The Story of the Men of 48 in Tasmania'' by John Hugh Cullen, Dublin, 1928. * ''The Australian Daughters Of Mary Aikenhead'' by John Hugh Cullen, Sydney, 1938. * ''The Catholic Church In Tasmania'' by John Hugh Cullen, Launceston, 1949. * ''Sisters of the Presentation 1866-1966'' by Msgr John H Cullen, 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, John Hugh People from County Wicklow 1883 births 1970 deaths Alumni of All Hallows College, Dublin Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland Australian priests