Bartholomew Woodlock

Bartholomew Woodlock was born in Dublin on 30 March 1819, the son of lawyer William Woodlock and Mary Cleary, before becoming the second rector of the Catholic University of Ireland and founder of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland. He taught dogmatic theology at All Hallows College, chaired the first St Vincent de Paul meeting in December 1844, and later served as Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise until 1890. A man shaped by Rome, Jesuit schooling and Dublin ambition, he carried philosophy into practice, building institutions where faith could be thought through and lived out.