Stephen Brown

Stephen James Meridith Brown (born 24 September 1881 in Holywood, County Down, Ireland, died on the 8th of May 1962, in Kilcrony, Wicklow, Ireland) was an Irish Catholic Jesuit priest, writer, bibliographer and librarian. He founded the Central Catholic Library in Dublin. Life Although he was born in County Down, Stephen Brown spent his early years in Naas, County Kildare, where his father was a solicitor and Chairman of Kildare County Council (1899–1911). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and entered the Jesuit noviceship in 1897. He studied philosophy in Jersey, and was ordained in 1914. He initially taught at Maynooth College, and afterwards established the post-graduate school in librarianship at University College Dublin, an interest he maintained for some 24 years. In 1922 he set up the Central Catholic Library, where he later served as director. He served on the Hospital Library Council and as Director of the Academy of Christian Art. In 1953 he received a certificate of Honorary Fellowship from the Library Association of Ireland, for his contribution to the development of the library profession in Ireland.