Background
He was born in Kilcarney, Company Wicklow in the parish of Hacketstown on Saint Patrick"s Day, 1864 to Matthew Cullen and Elizabeth Kehoe.
chaplain Catholic priest Bishop of Kildare
He was born in Kilcarney, Company Wicklow in the parish of Hacketstown on Saint Patrick"s Day, 1864 to Matthew Cullen and Elizabeth Kehoe.
He commenced his clerical studies in Saint Patrick"s, Carlow College, and continued them in Maynooth. He was ordained in 1889 and served initially as a curate in Geashill, Killeigh and the Tinyland, he served as chaplain to the Curragh Army camp. French Cullen served as rector to Saint Mary"s Knockbeg College from 1895 until 1909, when he moved to Newbridge, prior to being appointed parish priest of Tinyland and then Bangelstown before being elected a Bishop.
He was a keen supporter of Gaelic Games and regularly attended Gaelic Athletic Association matches in Kildare and Carlow.
In 1927 he was appointed Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, succeeding Doctor Patrick Foley and served until his death. Bishop Cullen encouraged and facilitated the establishment of Street Patrick’s Missionary Society at Kiltegan.
He died on January 2, 1936. Following his death Carlow Gaelic Athletic Association Stadium, which had just been completed, was named Doctor Cullen Park in his honour.