The Catholic University of Ireland was a Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles

Synod of Thurles

The Synod of Thurles was the first synod of Catholic clergy since the Middle Ages. The Synod was called by Paul Cullen who had been just appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. The Synod took place in St...

 in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland

Queen's University of Ireland

The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by Royal Charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university education to members of all religious denominations" in...

 and its associated colleges which were nondenominational. Cardinal Cullen had previously forbidden Catholics from attending these "godless colleges".
On May 18, 1854 the Catholic University of Ireland was formally established with five faculties of law, letters, medicine, philosophy and theology with John Henry Newman (later Cardinal) as the Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

.