St John Henry Newman’s legacy to Ireland is considerable; his legacy to the Catholic Church is immense. When Newman came to Ireland in 1851, he knew little of the people or of the bishops and clergy. While an Anglican he opposed Daniel O’Connell’s work for Catholic emancipation.
But as Newman said, “to live is to change”. In 1886, he wrote to Gerard Manley Hopkins, “If I were an Irishman, I would (in heart) be a rebel.”
In 1851, then Archbishop of Dublin Cardinal Paul Cullen invited Newman to be rector of a proposed Catholic University in Dublin. Shortly after Newman’s arrival in Dublin he gave a series of five lectures in the Rotunda. These lectures would form the Dublin Discourses and ultimately The Idea of a University.
The Catholic University opened at Number 86 St Stephen’s Green on November 3rd, 1854. The first name on the register was Daniel O’Connell, grandson of the Liberator.
READ MORE
The Catholic University is the remote, although not direct, ancestor of University College Dublin, which was established under the Universities Act, 1908.
Close to Number 86 St Stephen’s Green is another feature of Newman’s legacy to Ireland – the beautiful University Church dedicated to Our Lady Seat of Wisdom. It was designed by John Hungerford Pollen who was professor of fine arts in the university.
On November 1st, 2025 Newman was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV. The Pope also made him a co-patron of Catholic education together with St Thomas Aquinas. Ever concerned with education, on his return to England, Newman founded the Oratory School for boys at Edgbaston in 1859.
Just 38 saints have been named Doctors of the Church in 2,000 years. They include St Augustine and St Teresa of Avila. To become a Doctor of the Church one must be a saint who has made a significant contribution to its theology.
Newman’s contribution involved great effort, at times pain. He compared his feeling at one time to “mental child-bearing”. His most significant contributions to the theology of the church concern the development of doctrine, the role of the laity, the role of Mary and the role of conscience.
An aspect of his development of doctrine concerns the church as the body of Christ, as a communitarian rather than an authoritarian structure. The church was not a mere juridical entity ruled by officers. It was not until the encyclical of Pius XII on the mystical body that this concept was accepted.
In his lectures on The Present Position of Catholics in England, Newman stated that: “In all times the laity have been the measure of the Catholic spirit”. In his book The Arians of the Fourth Century, he spoke of a time when “the body of the episcopate was unfaithful to its commission, while the body of the laity was faithful to its Baptism”.
Newman noted that the Irish clergy were not unique in “their horror of laymen”. A record of a meeting with Bishop Ullathorne in Birmingham on May 22nd, 1859 says that the bishop asked Newman “who are the laity?”. Newman noted that “I answered (not in these words) that the church would look funny without them”.
A problem for Newman on his journey into the Catholic Church was the role of Mary. He had difficulty with some devotional practices. In seeking to understand Mary’s role he looked back to the early church fathers.
In the Letter to Pusey he asks: “What is the great rudimental teaching of Antiquity from its earliest date concerning her? By ‘rudimental teaching’ I mean the prima facie view of her person and office, the broad outline laid down of her, the aspect under which she comes to us in the writings of the Fathers. She is the Second Eve.”
He wrote: “I observe the curse pronounced on Eve was changed to a blessing.”
Given his place as a saint and a Doctor of the Church, it is interesting that he was unenthusiastic about the definition of papal infallibility. Newman believed in the supremacy of conscience.
The opening lines of A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk are: “It seems then that there are extreme cases in which Conscience may come into collision with the word of a Pope, and is to be followed in spite of that word.”
Newman’s view of conscience was that it was the voice of God within us. Later in the letter, he writes, “Certainly, if I am obliged to bring religion into after-dinner toasts, (which indeed does not seem to be the thing) I shall drink – to the Pope, if you please – still to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.”
A graduate of UCD, Dr Finola Kennedy was the first woman to receive a PhD in economics there. She is author of Cottage to Creche: Family Change in Ireland (2001), Frank Duff: A Life Story (2011) and Local Matters: Parish, Local Government and Community in Ireland (2022)
