Monsignor Patrick Francis Cremin, STD, JUD was Professor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology and of Canon Law at St Patrick's College, Maynooth between 1939 and 1980.

Cremin was born in Kerry in 1910. His family was gifted and one of his siblings, Con Cremin

Con Cremin

Con Cremin was an Irish diplomat born in Kenmare, County Kerry .One of four children, Cremin was born to a family that operated a drapery business. His brother, Francis Cremin, became a leading academic canon lawyer who framed a number of key church documents. He was educated at St...

, would become a career diplomat and ultimately Secretary-General of the Irish Department of Foreign affairs. He was educated in St Brendan's Seminary, Killarney and St Patrick's College, Maynooth

St Patrick's College, Maynooth

St Patrick's College, Maynooth is the "National Seminary for Ireland" , and a Pontifical University, located in the village of Maynooth, 15 miles from Dublin, Ireland. The college and seminary are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was officially established as the Royal College...

. Following ordination to the priesthood for the Kerry Diocese, he undertook postgraduate work in theology and law at the Lateran University in Rome.

Cremin returned from Rome to hold professorships theology and canon law in Maynooth. In the course of his career, Cremin gave Noel Browne

Noel Browne

Noël Christopher Browne was an Irish politician and doctor. He holds the distinction of being one of only five Teachtaí Dála to be appointed Minister on their first day in the Dáil. His controversial Mother and Child Scheme in effect brought down the First Inter-Party Government of John A...

 theological advice regarding the Mother and Child Scheme

Mother and Child Scheme

The Mother and Child Scheme was a healthcare programme in the Republic of Ireland that would later become remembered as a major political crisis involving primarily the Irish Government and Roman Catholic Church in the early 1950s....

 while Browne was Minister for Health in the First Inter-party government (1948-51). A decade later, he accompanied Archbishop John Charles McQuaid

John Charles McQuaid

John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. was the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland between December 1940 and February 1972.- Early life 1895-1914:...

 CSSp to Rome as his peritus at the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

, contributing personally to Christus Dominus

Christus Dominus

Christus Dominus is the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops. It was approved by a vote of 2,319 to 2 of the assembled bishops and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965. The title in Latin means "Christ the Lord," and is from the first line of the...

, the Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops.

Cremin was thought to be a candidate for episcopal office, particularly for his home diocese of Kerry, but this did not materialise. He became increasingly critical of developments in Maynooth through the 1970s. The Irish Independent published a series of articles he wrote on the topic. He retired in 1980, but contributed towards the framing of the new Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983. He remained active in retirement for many years later. He died in 2001.