P. (Peter) Coffey

Born on 9 April 1876 in Rathrone, near Enfield, Ireland, Peter Coffey was educated at the Meath Diocesan Seminary in Navan and at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He later studied at the University of Louvain and the University of Strasbourg, and he was ordained in 1900.

Coffey became Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Maynooth College in 1902 and held the post until his death on 7 January 1943. In his day he was regarded as one of Ireland’s leading Catholic intellectuals, combining academic philosophy with the work of a priest and teacher.

He is best remembered for a series of philosophical works, including The Science of Logic, Ontology: The Theory of Being, and Epistemology. Written from a Thomistic and neo-scholastic perspective, these books became standard texts in the training of Catholic priests and theologians, and they show his gift for presenting demanding ideas in an orderly, teachable way.