The first national synod of the Catholic hierarchy held in Ireland since the middle ages opened on Thursday, 22 August 1850, at Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Its principal goal was to reform the Catholic Church in Ireland, root and branch, and to ensure that it conformed in everything to the standards of the universal Catholic Church as set by Rome. The Synod was called by Paul Cullen, the newly appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland (head of the Catholic Church). He had recently returned from Rome as Apostolic Delegate, a papal office that gave him complete control over the Catholic Church in Ireland. He planned to use his powers to reform it. Rome was concerned about the administration of the Church in Ireland. An ‘ultramontanist’, Cullen believed that every national church should follow the Roman model exactly, in practice, in teaching, and in discipline. He was utterly opposed to local or popular religious expressions and determined to end these in Ireland. The Synod marked the beginning of this process. (Synod of Thurles)
Paul Cullen (Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland)
Caricature thereof.
The second picture shows the seminary in the background, I was astudent there for three years before it closed