Bartholomew Woodlock

Dr. Bartholomew Woodlock (30 March 1819 – 13 December 1902) was an Irish Catholic bishop, philosopher and educator. He established the Catholic University School, Dublin, and founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Ireland. He was the 2nd Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, now University College Dublin, after Cardinal John Henry Newman.


Bartholomew Woodlock
Bishop emeritus of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise
Titular Bishop of Trapezopolis
Appointed4 April 1879
Term ended1890
PredecessorGeorge Michael Conroy
SuccessorJoseph Hoare
Other postsRector of the Catholic University of Ireland
President of Catholic University School
Orders
Ordination1831-priest, 1877–Monsignor, 1879-Bishop
RankBishop
Personal details
Born(1819-03-30)30 March 1819
Died13 December 1902(1902-12-13) (aged 83)
BuriedSt Mel's cathedral, Longford
NationalityIrish
DenominationRoman Catholic
ParentsWilliam Woodlock and Mary Cleary
Alma materClongowes Wood College, Roman College, Appolinare Seminary

Philosophy career
Era19th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAristotelianism[1]
Empiricism[2]
Personalism[3]
Main interests
Faith and rationality
Religious epistemology
Historical theology
Christian apologetics
Philosophy of education
Classical education

Early life

He was born on 30 March 1819 in Dublin, to William Woodlock and Mary Cleary. His father was a lawyer and associate of Daniel O'Connell. His parents were from Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. His sister Joanna married the Physician Sir Dominic Corrigan.

Woodlock was educated at the Jesuit Day-School, in Dublin and Clongowes Wood College. Thereafter, supported by the Archbishop of Dublin and the Jesuits, he entered the Appolinare Seminary in Rome, winning prizes in Theology and Philosophy during his studies, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity at the age of 22. He joined the staff of All Hallows College in Drumcondra in Dublin, in 1843, which had been just set up by Fr.Hand, following meeting him in Rome. He served as professor of Dogmatic Theology until 1854, when he was appointed President of the college. He also served as vice-rector and vice president of the College, as well as a priest in the Dublin Diocese.

Dr. Woodlock's sister in law the philanthropist Ellen Woodlock helped establish what became Temple Street Children's University Hospital, she was also the only woman to contribute to the House of Commons select committee meetings on Irish Poor Relief.[4]

Diocesan Work

In 1844 he helped set up the first branch of the St. Vincent De Paul in Ireland,[5] chairing the first meeting on 14 December 1844. He was appointed Spiritual Director of the organisation and was active in it up until his appointment as a bishop.[6] Along with the architect J.J. McCarthy and William Nugent he helped found the Irish Ecclesiological Society in 1849.

In 1861 Woodlock was appointed rector of the Catholic University of Ireland succeeding Cardinal John Henry Newman. He held the position until he was appointed a bishop.[7] In line with Newman's educational philosophy, Woodlock set up the Catholic University School in 1867 as a preparatory school for the Catholic University of Ireland.

Woodlock was appointed Monsignor in 1877 and consecrated Bishop of Ardagh in 1879 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome by Pope Leo XIII, serving in Longford until 1895 when he reached retirement age and was appointed Titular bishop of Trapezopolis.

His interest in church architecture is present in the renovations of St. Mels Cathedral along with other church buildings in the diocese which took place during his tenure.

He died on 13 December 1902, and is buried at St. Mel's Cathedral, Longford. His papers are held in Clonliffe College.[8]

See also

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
George Michael Conroy
Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise
1879–1895
Succeeded by
Joseph Hoare
Academic offices
Preceded by
Rev. John Moriarty DD
President of All Hallows College, Dublin
1854–1861
Succeeded by
Rev. Thomas A. Bennett DD OCC
Preceded by
Cardinal John Henry Newman
Rector of Catholic University of Ireland
1861–1879
Succeeded by
Rev. Henry Neville

References

  1. Joshua P. Hochschild, "The Re-Imagined Aristotelianism of John Henry Newman".
  2. John Henry Newman, Empiricist Philosophy, and the Certainty of Faith, University of Oxford, 1974.
  3. John Crosby, The Personalism of John Henry Newman, The Catholic University of America Press, 2014.
  4. 'Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland' By Maria Luddy.
  5. About us SVP St. Vincent De Paul Northern Ireland.
  6. Memoir of the Most Rev. Dr Woodlock (Dublin, 1903)
  7. UCD Timeline www.ucd.ie
  8. Dublin Diocese Archives
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