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In the nineteenth century students studied philosophy, theology,
mathematics, languages and law at Carlow College. In the eighteen
forties, fifties and sixties students at Carlow College sat
for the award of B.A. or B.LL. (Law) from the University of
London. Today certificates, diplomas and degrees at the College
are accredited by the National Council for Educational Awards.
[See Courses]
Of the thousands of alumni of Carlow College more than 3000
were ordained priests, many entered the legal profession,
others distinguished themselves in medicine, literature, journalism
and politics.
Priests and Bishops
Since 1793 almost 3200 students of Carlow College have been
ordained priests and have served all over the world. J
McEvoy, in his book Carlow College 1793-1993 gives
the following summary table showing destinations of Carlow
College Alumni:
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Ireland
England & Wales
Scotland
*USA
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
New Guinea
Agen
France
Gibraltar
Mauritius
India
British Guiana
Trinidad
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1150
381
84
1043
36 *
303
42
11
1
2
4
2
4
3
3
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Australian Connection
 John
Therry was born in Cork in 1790. He studied in Carlow
College (1812-15) and was ordained priest in 1815. For the
following five years he ministered in Cork city, for the last
three years of which he was attached to the Cathedral. Walking
one day in the streets, a wagon of Irish convicts passed him.
These he learned were being conveyed to Botany Bay, a penal
settlement near the present city of Sydney. He resolved to
follow them as their chaplain.
He arrived in Sydney on 3rd May 1820 and for eighteen years
he laboured among the neglected and degraded convicts, earning
for himself the grand title of Parish Priest of Australia.
He purchased the site on which the present St Mary's Cathedral
stands, and on it, largely by Irish convict labour he built
the first permanent church in Australia. In 1838 he went to
Van Dieman's land, the present Tasmania. In 1858 he returned
to Sydney where he was given the title of Archpriest, and
where for the next six years he laboured as Parish Priest
of Balmain until his death in 1864. He was buried in the crypt
of St. Mary's Cathedral. Vid. his Life and Letters of Archpriest
John Joseph Therry by Eris O'Brien.
Other Notable Carlovians in Australia:
Bishop John Dunne, Wilcannia - Forbes (1887-1916)
studied at Carlow (1863-70)
Bishop John Carroll, Lismore (1910-1949) studied at
Carlow (1886-90)
Bishop Patrick Phelan, Sale (1912-1925) studied at
Carlow (1882-88)
Archbishop Andrew Killian, Adelaide (1934-1939) studied
at Carlow (1895-98)
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England
Bishop James McGuinness, Bishop of Nottingham (1975 - ) student
at Carlow (1944-1946)
USA
 Carlow
College priests have served in 100 dioceses in the USA. Outstanding
among them was Bishop John England first Bishop of
Charleston, South Carolina (1820-1824) who was a student at
Carlow from 1 Sept., 1803 - 1 Sept., 1808. c.f. his Life by
Dr Peter Guilday, 2 vols., New York, 1927.
Other Notable Carlovians in the US:
Archbishop John Ryan, Archbishop of Philadelphia (1884-1911);
Bishop James Davis, Bishop of Davenport (1906-1926); Bishop
Patrick Keane, Bishop of Sacramento (1920-1928); Bishop Patrick
Barry, Bishop of St Augustine (1922-1940); Bishop Joseph Gilfillan,
St Joseph, Missouri (1922/23-1933), Bishop Edmund Carmody,
Bishop of Tyler, Texas (1992 - to present).
Association with Catholic Colleges in the US
Carlow College, Pittsburg, founded by the Mercy Sisters in
1929 took its name from Carlow from where Mother Frances Mary
Warde set out for the US in 1843. Villanova University was
founded by Patrick Edward Moriarty, a student at Carlow College
from (1817-1822). Dr Moriarty was President of Villanova from
1851-1855. Barry University in Florida was named in honour
of Bishop Patrick Barry and founded by his sister Mother Gerald
Barry, OP and his brother Monsignor Wm. Barry (Carlow College
(1905-1909). St Ambrose University, Davenport, Illinois, has
a hall named in honour of Bishop James Davis (Carlow College
1872-78).
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Notable Lay Alumni
James Fintan Lalor, Agrarian Agitator and Social Activist
Richard Dalton Williams, Poet and Patriot John O'Leary, the
Fenian, friend of W B Yeats Maurice Lenihan, Journalist and
Historian of Limerick Frank O'Meara, Painter
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Carlow College Crest
History
 Rescissa
Vegetior Assurgit
The Carlow College crest consists of a large
shield with an oak tree resting on it and underneath a scroll
with the legend Rescissa Vegetior Assurgit which means
"cut back, it burgeons all the more".
 The
shield is divided into two halves by a vertical line. On the
dexter side is an image of St. Patrick, his hand raised
in blessing, his crozier crushing the head of a snake while
the hound of Banba sits in the foreground.
 On
the sinister side, against a blue field, a globe sits in an
ornate stand below the books of the Old & New Testament. The
reference is missionary - "go teach all nations even to
the ends of the earth".
 The
oak tree above the shield represents the durability of Christian
faith in Ireland and refers to the oak of Kildare under whose
branches St. Brigid, the 5th Century patroness of the diocese
of Kildare, founded her famous convent.
The legend Rescissa Vegetior Assurgit
strikes a note of courageous optimism. With the relaxation
of the penal laws in 1782, the way was open again for Catholics
to build their own schools and in that year Carlow College,
Ireland's oldest third-level Catholic College, was founded.
It opened on the 1st October 1793.
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