Paul Cardinal Cullen (29 April 1803 – 24 October 1878) was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and previously of Armagh, and the first Irish cardinal. His Ultramontanism spearheaded the Romanisation of the Catholic Church in Ireland and ushered in the devotional revolution experienced in Ireland through the second half of the 19th century and much of the 20th century. A trained biblical theologian and scholar of ancient languages, Cullen crafted the formula for papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council. Early life Cullen was born at Prospect, Narraghmore, Athy, County Kildare, one of 16 children of Hugh and Judith (Maher) Cullen, six of whom were from Hugh's first marriage. His first school was the Quaker Shackleton School in nearby Ballitore. Following the relaxation of some of the Penal Laws, his father purchased some , giving him the status of a Catholic "strong farmer", a class that greatly influenced 19th-century Irish society. They were fervent in their Catholicism and fearful of the sort of social unrest that had led to the failed 1798 Rising. His great-nieces, Mary and Elizabeth Cullen became nuns, and two great-nephews entered the priesthood. Cullen entered St Patrick's College, Carlow, in 1816, and, in 1820, he proceeded to the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, where his name is registered on the roll of students of 29 November 1820. At the close of a distinguished course of studies, he was selected to hold a public disputation in the halls of the Propaganda on 11 September 1828, in 224 theses from all theology and ecclesiastical history. The theological tournament was privileged in many ways, for Pope Leo XII, attended by his court, presided on the occasion, while no fewer than ten cardinals assisted at it, together with all the élite of ecclesiastical Rome. Vincenzo Pecci, the future Pope Leo XIII, was present at the disputation. Cullen graduated a doctor of divinity. He was ordained in 1829. During his studies, Cullen acquired knowledge of classical and Oriental languages. He was later appointed to the chairs of Hebrew and Sacred Scripture in the schools of the Propaganda, and receiving at the same time the charge of the famed printing establishment of the Congregation of Propaganda Fidei. This later charge he resigned in 1832, after being appointed Rector of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, but during the short term of his administration, he published a standard edition of the Greek and