St Patrick’s College, Maynooth

Vorlage:Infobox University St Patrick's College, Maynooth (Vorlage:Lang-ga) is the "National Seminary for Ireland", Pontifical University, and was a college of the National University of Ireland. The college and seminary often called Maynooth College located at Maynooth, Ireland. The college was officially established as the Roman Catholic College of St Patrick by an Act of Grattan's Parliament in 1795, Mr. Thomas Pelham, the Secretary of State, introduced his Bill for the foundation of a Catholic college. There are 65 men studying for the priesthood at Maynooth, in 2008, now the only seminary in Ireland.

Degrees at the college are awarded by the associated Pontifical University of Maynooth which is Ireland's only private university and was established by a Pontifical Charter of 1896. The Pontifical Charter entitles the university to grant degrees in canon law, philosophy and theology.

History

Maynooth was the seat of the Fitzgerald's Earls of Kildare.

The ivy covered tower attached to St. Mary's Protestant Church is all that remains of the ancient college of St. Mary of Maynooth which was founded and endowed by Gerald 8th Earl of Kildare and dedicated to the blessed Virgin. In 1518 the 9th Earl presented a petition to the then Archbishop of Dublin (William Rockeby) 1511 : 1521, for license to found and endow a College at Maynooth. The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The college was created against the background of the upheaval during the French Revolution and the gradual removal of the penal laws. Until this time a significant number of Catholic priests were educated on the European continent, particularly in France, outside of Ireland.

The college was established on 5 June 1795 (35 Geo III, cap. 21) as The Royal College of St Patrick, by act of the Parliament of Ireland to provide "for the better education of persons professing the popish or Roman Catholic religion". Initially the College in Maynooth was established to provide a university education for Catholic lay and ecclesiastical students, the lay college was based from 1802 in Riverstown House on the south campus, with the opening of Clongowes Wood, the lay college which had lay trustees was closed in 1817 and it functioned solely as a Catholic seminary for almost 150 years.

The college was particularly intended to provide for the education of Catholic priests in Ireland who prior to the act had to go to the continent for training; also the added value in this was the reduction of the amount of priests returning from training in revolutionary France (with whom Britain was at war) thus discouraging potential revolution. The value to the government was proved by the condemnation by the Catholic Church hierarchy of the 1798 rebellion and later support for the Act of Union.

In 1800, John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne died and left a substantial fortune to the College. Butler had been a Roman Catholic, Bishop of Cork, who had embraced Protestantism in order to marry and guarantee the succession to his hereditary title. However, there were no children to his marriage and it was alleged that he had been reconciled to the Catholic Church at his death. Were this the case, a penal law demanded that the will was invalid and his wealth would pass to his family. Much litigation followed before a negotiated settlement in 1808 that led to the establishment of a Dunboyne scholarship fund.

The land was donated by the 2nd Duke of Leinster. The building work was paid for by the British Government; parliament continued to give it an annual grant until the Irish Church Disestablishment Act became law. When this law was passed the College received a capital sum of £369,000. The trustees invested 75% of this in mortgages to Irish landowners at a yield of 4.25% - 4.75% per annum. This would have been considered a secure investment at that time but agitation for land reform and the depression of the 1870s eroded this security. The largest single mortgage was granted to the Earl of Granard. Accumulated losses on these transactions reached £35,000 by 1906. .

The first building to go up on this site was designed by, and named after, John Stoyte; Stoyte House, which can still be seen from the entrance to the old campus, is a well-known building to Maynooth students and stands in close proximity to the very historic Maynooth Castle. Over the next 15 years, the site at Maynooth underwent rapid construction so as to cater for the influx of new students, and the buildings which now border St. Joseph's Square (to the rear of Stoyte House) were completed by 1824.

The Rev. Dr. Laurence F. Renehan (1797-1857) - a noted antiquarian, church historian, and cleric - served as president of St. Patrick's from 1845 through 1857. Under Renehan, many of the college's most important buildings were constructed by Augustus Pugin.

The museum in Maynooth College contains many items from the colleges history, ecclesiastical artifacts and scientific apparatus such as that of famous Physicist Nicholas Callan. Nicholas Callan figure in the study of electromagnetism, inventing the Induction Coil and Maynooth Battery, he is buried in the college grounds.

Maynooth Grant

Following the controversy regarding the Maynooth Grant, the College received a higher annual grant from the British Government, as well as a sum for repairs. In 1845, the British government under Robert Peel increased the annual grant to Maynooth College from £9,000 to £26,000, and provided a capital grant of £30,000 for building extensions again this was controversial from both Catholics who saw it as a bribe, and Protestants who were not in favour of the government funding catholic education.

Expansion

In 1876 the college became a constituent college of the Catholic University of Ireland, and later offered Royal University of Ireland degrees in arts and science. Even after the granting of the Pontifical Charter in 1896 the college became a recognised college of the National University of Ireland in 1910, and from this time its arts and science degrees were awarded by the National University of Ireland. However during this time the Pontifical University of Maynooth continued to confer its degrees, as theology degrees were prohibited in the Royal University of Ireland, and its successor the National University of Ireland until 1997.

In 1966 after a gap of nearly 150 years lay students entered the college again, these being the members of lay religious orders, and in 1968 all laity where accepted; by 1977 they outnumbered religious. Finally in 1997 the Universities Act, 1997 was passed by the Oireachtas and Chapter IX provided for the creation of the separate National University of Ireland, Maynooth. This new university was created from the faculties of art, celtic studies and philosophy, and science of the college.

In 1994, W J Smyth, BA, PhD, LLD, was appointed to the position of Master of St. Patrick's College Maynooth(NUI), in 1997 this position became President of NUIM, after his 10 year term in 2004 he was replaced by Professor John Hughes as president of the national University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Timeline

• 1518 - Garret Óg Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, founded the College of St Mary, in Maynooth
• 1535 - College of St. Mary confiscated as part of Henry VIII's religious reforms
• 1795 - The Royal College of St Patrick established on 5 June 1795 (35 Geo III, cap. 21)
• 1798 - United Irishmen Rebellion, out of 69 students, 18 were expelled for taking the Oath to the United Irishmen
• 1800 - Act of Union 1800 transfer of maynooth grant from Dublin to London
• 1800 - John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne died
• 1801 - First Lay college suppressed
• 1802 - Lay college opens in Riverstown Lodge
• 1808 - Dunboyne Establishment case settled between Maynooth Trustees and Butler family
• 1817 - Lay College Closed
• 1845 - Maynooth grant increased
• 1847 - The Great Famine
• 1876 - Maynooth becomes a constituent college of the Catholic University of Ireland
• 1880 - Royal University of Ireland founded
• 1886 - Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland by Gladstone, Maynooth was disendowed, lay trustess left the board.
• 1896 - Maynooth granted Pontifical University status by Papal Charter from Pope Leo XIII
• 1903 - King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited it on 24 July 1903
• 1908 - National University of Ireland founded
• 1909 - Royal University of Ireland dissolved
• 1910 - St. Patricks College. Maynooth officially becomes a recognised college of the National University of Ireland
• 1911 - Coronation Visit of King George V, Royal College of St Patrick, Maynooth
• 1966 - Lay students in religious orders admitted
• 1968 - All Lay Students admitted
• 1970 - Dept. of Biology founded as part of the Faculty of Science
• 1976 - Higher Education Central Applications Office (CAO) founded
• 1987 - Dept. of Computer Science founded as part of the Faculty of Science
• 1996 - Third level fees abolished by the Irish Government
• 1997 - National University of Ireland, Maynooth founded from the faculties of Science, Arts and Celtic studies.

Student Activities

Students of Maynooth have participated in a variety of inter-varsity competitions. In 1972 maynooth entered the Gaeilic Football Sigerson Cup for the 1st time and won it in 1976, they also participate in the Hurling competition the Fitzgibbon Cup winning it in 1974 and 1974. The Soccer team similarly compete in the FAI's Collingwood Cup. The College won the inaugural Irish Higher Education Quiz show on RTE, Challenging Times(based on University Challenge winning again in 1992 and as NUIM in 1999.

Emblem

St. Patrick's Flag is used as the emblem of the college, and the flag has flown above Stoyte House, a new logo was used for the build up and since the bicentennial of the college based on the Gothic buildings, since 1997 the National University of Maynooth has used its own logo and emblem.

Governance of Maynooth College

From its foundation 1795 Maynooth had been governed by a board of Clerical (the catholic bishops of Ireland) and lay trustees appointed by the government. The lay trustees were prominent Catholic Lords, such as the Earl of Fingall Arthur James Plunkett and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. One of the side effects of the act to disestablish the Church of Ireland, was that Maynooth's governance and funding changed, leaving only the Bishops on the board of trustees.(Vic., C.25)

Buildings

The North Campus is where most of the faculties of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth is concentrated, the South Campus contains the historic buildings of Maynooth.

• Stoyte House - dating from 1780, originally the home of the steward of the Leinster estate.
• St. Josephs Square
• Dunboyne House
• Humanity House
• New House - completed in 1809.
• St. Marys Square
• St. Mary's
• St. Patrick's
• Russell Library - designed by Augustus Welby Pugin completed in 1861.
• Pugin Hall
• Aula Maxima - opened in 1893, was the gift to his Alma Mater of the Right Rev. Mgr. MacMahon of the Catholic University at Washington, D. C
• Riverstown House - used by the lay college from 1801-1817.
• Logic House - Mathematics Department(NUIM) and Mathematical Physics Department (NUIM).
• Rhetoric House - History,Geography and Economic Departments.
• Loftus Halls (usually where examinations take place)
• Columba Centre
• Staff Dining Hall
• Museum - The museum houses many beautiful ecclesiastical and scientific artifacts.
• John Paul II Library - was opened in 1983
• St Mary's (Church of Ireland) - was the chapel for the Fitzgerald's, incorporated into the outer wall of the College.
• Arts Block - the first major building development on the North Campus
• Student Restaurant and Sports Hall(1992)
• Callan Building(1993) - Dept. of Computer Science part of the Science Faculty
• Student Centre(1994)

Presidents of Maynooth College

• Reverend Thomas Hussey, DD, FRS (25-6-1795)
• Reverend Peter Flood, DD (17-1-1798)
• Reverend Andrew Dunne, DD (24-2-1803)
• Reverend Patrick Byrne, DD (27-6-1807)
• Reverend Patrick Everard, DD (29-6-1810)
• Most Reverend Daniel Murray, DD

(Coadjutor to the Archbishop of Dublin) (29-6-1812)

• Reverend Bartholomew Crotty, DD (13-11-1813)
• Reverend Michael Slattery (19-6-1832)
• Reverend Michael Montague, DD (25-6-1834)
• Reverend Laurence Renehan, DD (25-6-1845)
• Reverend Charles W Russell, DD (20-10-1857)
• Reverend William J Walsh, DD (22-6-1880)
• Reverend Robert Browne, DD (7-10-1885)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Denis Gargan, DD(9-10-1894)
• Reverend Daniel Mannix, DD (13-10-1903)
• Rt Reverend John F Hogan, DD (8-10-1912)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor James MacCaffrey, PhD (8-10-1918)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor John D'Alton, MA, DD, DLitt (23-6-1936)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Edward Kissane, DD, LSS, DLitt, PA (23-6-1942)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Gerard Mitchell, DD (23-6-1959)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Patrick Corish, MA, DD (23-11-1967)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Jeremiah Newman, MA, DPh, LLD (8-10-1968)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Tomás Ó Fiaich, MA, LicScHist (12-6-1974)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Michael Olden, BA, BD, DHistEccl 26 9 1977)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Míceál Ledwith, BA, LPh, DD(. 13 3 1985)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Matthew O'Donnell, MA, BD, DPh.(22-6-1994)

(W J Smyth, BA, PhD, LLD. (22-6-1994) became Master of the National University of Ireland, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.)

• Rt Reverend Monsignor Dermot Farrell, BSc, DD (9-12-1996)
• Rt Reverend Monsignor Hugh Connolly, BA, DD (1-9-2007)

Controversies

Vorlage:Refimprove Maynooth would have been involved in many controversies with the Government, initially over the education of Catholics, then over funding and the influence or otherwise perceived to accrue to being beholden to the English government. Since Irish Independence the converse would be somewhat through as to the influence of Maynooth and its trained clergy in the Irish Society, maynooth would have been seen as being the venue of power of the clergy since the bishops held their conferences there. The foundation of the NUI also excluded members of maynooth from its governing body as to limit the control of the Clergy over education.

Oath of Allegiance

As part of the bill on which Maynooth College was founded students and trustees of the college were supposed to take an Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown, this was part of the reason why some clerical students would not attend since the perceived sponsor by a foreign government, or pledging allegiance to a Protestant Head of state and head of the Anglican church. The Oath was evaded by many of the students, some feigning sickness, some repeating the words improperly, and others exercising a mental reservation but all treat it lightly.

The Famine

Maynooth College seemed to fare quite well during famine times with only one death reported. The good agricultural land and revenue acquired helped the college, and as a result many ordinary people resented their apparent prosperity whilst most of the country was devastated by potato blight and starvation.

Michael O'Hickey

Irish language activist and scholar Dr. Michael O'Hickey(1860-1916) was dismissed in 1909 from his position as Professor of Irish, for his conduct in the controversy over Irish as a matriculation subject for the new National University of Ireland. He was supported by such maynooth figures as College President Daniel Mannix and professor of theology Walter McDonald (1854-1920).

Micheál Ledwith

Vorlage:Seealso Dr Micheál Ledwith, a priest of the Diocese of Ferns was nominated to the position of president of the College in 1994 by Dr Brendan Comiskey, Bishop of Ferns.

Current status

Any student of the college, prior to the passing of the Universities Act, 1997, upon whom a degree of the National University of Ireland was conferred is now legally considered to be a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. The college continues to share its campus with National University of Ireland, Maynooth but remains a separate legal entity with training in canon law, philosophy and theology and awards the degrees of the Pontifical University and is associated with several other colleges.

There are 5,101 priests in Ireland in 2006 - 2,412 diocesan and 2,619 in religious congregations. But the number of ordinations at Maynooth have not kept pace with historic trends: 9 in 2003, 8 in 2004, 7 in 2005 and 8 in 2006, and a mere 2 in 2007. There has been a rise in the number of men beginning studies for the priesthood in 2006. 26 students started the seven-year course of study at the college, up from last year's intake of 22, on 20 August 2006. This is the highest number since the beginning of the decade, with entrants numbering in the high teens with the exception of 2004 when 22 men started at the college. however it is unclear as to how many remain in St Patricks - the only figure being a drop out rate of 60% being suggested by former president Monsignor Farrell.

See also

• Education in the Republic of Ireland
• List of universities in the Republic of Ireland

External links

• St Patrick's College - Official web site
• National University of Ireland - Official web site
• National University of Ireland Maynooth - Official web site
• St. Marys Church
• Vorlage:CathEncy