MAYNOOTH. – The Irish College of St. Patrick (St. Patrick’s College) at M. (County Kildare) was founded in 1795 as a direct result of the historical circumstances of the time.
During the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, while the “penal laws” against the Catholic religion remained in force, it was impossible to have diocesan seminaries in Ireland; consequently, many Irish priests received their formation in “Irish Colleges,” established in various European cities: Rome, Paris, Salamanca, Bordeaux, Louvain. At the time of the French Revolution there were approximately 400 Irish students in these colleges. But when these colleges were closed and their students dispersed as a result of the troubled conditions in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century, St. Patrick’s College at M. was founded (1795) to meet the vital need created by the situation.
The primary purpose of the College was to serve as a seminary for all the dioceses of Ireland, and it underwent considerable development throughout the nineteenth century; today (1951) the number of students residing there exceeds 500. In 1899 the Faculties of theology, canon law, and philosophy were canonically established by the Holy See; their Statutes, revised in conformity with the norms of the apostolic constitution Deus Salientiarum Dominus, were approved by the Holy See in 1935. In 1908 M. became a “recognized College” of the National University of Ireland, which grants the “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Science” to students who have successfully passed the examination at the end of their third year of college. Candidates for the priesthood reside in the College for a period of seven years: three devoted chiefly to scholastic philosophy, with courses in ancient and modern languages and in the physical sciences, and four devoted to theological disciplines. After priestly ordination, at the end of the seventh year, many remain there for further study, in order to obtain the licentiate and doctorate.
The great majority of the students are destined to exercise the sacred ministry in the various dioceses of Ireland; but the courses leading to academic degrees in sacred theology and canon law have been attended, especially in recent years, by many priests from Great Britain, the U.S.A., Australia, and New Zealand, as well as by religious from various Orders and Congregations and from missionary societies.
Pius XII, in 1949, graciously commended “the noble part which the College of M. has played for more than a century
and a half, not only in the formation of excellent priests for the dioceses of Ireland, but also in providing zealous and generous workers for the distant vineyards of the Lord, in the English-speaking lands beyond the sea, and likewise in the mission territories of distant Africa and China. – Vedi tav. XXXII.