The Synod of Thurles, which took place in 1850, was the first formal synod of Catholic episcopacy and clergy since 1642. The cathedral church of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly ( ga, Ard-Deoise Chaisil agus Imligh) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in mid-western Ireland and the metropolis ...

is located in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

. The Synod was called by Paul Cullen following his appointment as

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

. The

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

took place in

St. Patrick's College, Thurles Mary Immaculate College, (MIC) Thurles is a third level college of education in Thurles, County Tipperary. Formerly a seminary, the college specialises in humanities courses in accounting, business studies, Irish and religious studies. History M ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Proceedings commenced on Thursday, 22 August 1850. SynodofThurles

The synod marked the beginning of a movement led by Cullen to standardise the administration, religious practices, teaching and discipline of the

Catholic church in Ireland , native_name_lang = ga , image = Armagh, St Patricks RC cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh. , abbreviation = , type ...

. Practices in the Church in Ireland had evolved differently from practices in continental Europe due to state suppression of the Church in Ireland from the c.1640 until Catholic emancipation in 1829. In advance of the synod, Cullen had been in Rome where he was appointed an Apostolic Delegate which in effect give him direct papal authority over the Catholic church in Ireland. Cullen was an 'ultramontanist' in philosophy and was committed to bringing the church in Ireland into line with the church in Rome. In particular, Cullen was opposed to local or popular religious expression and interpretation; he was determined to end such practices in Ireland. The synod also occurred at a sensitive time following the devastation of the

Great Irish famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...

. Counteracting proselytising efforts by the

protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches were also discussed. SynodofThurles2

Along with the twenty seven bishops in attendance, the abbot of

Mount Melleray Abbey Mount Melleray Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Ireland, founded in 1833. It is situated on the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains, near Cappoquin, Diocese of Waterford. It is famous in literature due to Seán Ó Ríordáin's poem ''Cnoc Mel ...

, Dom Bruno Fitzpatrick was entitled to vote at the synod. One of the main commitments from the Synod was to establish a Catholic University in Ireland in response to the establishment of the Queen's Colleges and the

Queen's University of Ireland The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by Royal Charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the ''Queen's Colleges'' of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university e ...

by the Universities Ireland Act of 1845 by the British Government. The bishops adopted the papal condemnation of the 'godless colleges' (i.e. the Queen's colleges) but were divided over priests accepting college positions and lay involvement. The consequence was the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ga, Ollscoil Chaitliceach na hÉireann) was a private Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University o ...

established in 1851 and the invitation from the bishops to Cardinal

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

to become its chancellor and its foundation in 1854.OPTIME NOSCITIS (On The Proposed Catholic University Of Ireland) Pope Pius IX
Encyclical Promulgated on 20 March 1854. ''Decrees of the Plenary Synod of the Bishops of Ireland'' (Decreta Synodi Plenariae Episcoporum Hiberniae) was published in 1851 following the synod.

References

{{Reflist History of Catholicism in Ireland Synods of Ireland