History

Founded in 1782, Carlow College, St. Patrick’s is the second oldest third level institution in Ireland. Since its first admissions in 1793 with 37 young men, the College has expanded considerably in student numbers, academic provision and civil engagement. 

Bunaithe sa bhliain 1782, is é Coláiste Cheatharlach, Naomh Pádraig an dara coláiste tríú leibhéal is sine in Éirinn. Ó na céad micléinn, 37 fir óga, gur glacadh leo sa bhliain 1793, méadú mór tagtha ar líon uimhreacha na mac léinn, ar sholáthar acadúil agus ar rannpháirtíocht shibhialta an Choláiste 

From Foundation to Present Day

When the College was built in the 1780s, the intention was to provide education to young Catholic men. However, the French Revolution closed the continent to Catholic seminarians, therefore clerical education was added to its remit. On 1st October 1793, the first of 37 students that year commenced at Carlow College. The College offered a broad Humanities’ curriculum, the classics, Latin and Greek, Philosophy and Theology were taught from the first day. Later, additional subjects such as French, English language and literature, rhetoric, history, geography, political economy, accounts, law, mathematics and natural philosophy were added. There were also options to study music, dancing and drawing. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the College continued to be a prominent provider of third-level education in the south-east of Ireland. Since the 1990s the College has reverted to its original remit and is entirely a lay college welcoming women and men through the CAO. 

Today, with close to 600 students from all over Ireland enrolled at the College, Carlow College strives to make education in the liberal arts and social studies accessible to students from a diverse range of backgrounds. 

Ó Bhunú go dtí Inniu

Nuair a tógadh an Coláiste sna 1780-óidí, an cuspóir a bhí ann ná oideachas a chur ar fáil d’fhir óga Caitliceacha. Faraoir, dhún Réabhlóid na Fraince ilchríoch na hEorpa d’ábhair shagairt Éireannacha i dtaobh freastal ar choláistí cléireacha, agus mar sin, cuireadh oideachas cléireachais le sainchúram Choláiste Cheatharlach.  

Ar an gcéad lá de Dheireadh Fómhair, 1793, thosaigh 37 mac léinn ag freastal ar an gColáiste. Chuir an Coláiste curaclam leathan daonnachtaí ar fáil, agus múineadh léann clasaiceach, Laidin agus Gréigis, Fealsúnacht agus Diagacht ón gcéad lá. Níos déanaí, cuireadh ábhair bhreise leo, ar nós Fraincis, Béarla -litríocht agus teanga, reitric, stair, tíreolaíocht, eacnamaíocht pholaitiúil, cuntasaíocht, dlí, matamaitic agus fealsúnacht nádúrtha. Bhí rogha ann staidéar a dhéanamh ar cheol, damhsa agus línaíocht freisin.  Le linn an 19ú agus an 20ú haois, lean an Coláiste mar sholáthraí iomráiteach oideachais tríú-leibhéal in oirdheisceart na hÉireann. Ó na 1990idí, tá an Coláiste tar éis filleadh ar a shainchúram bunaidh, agus is coláiste tuata é a chuireann fáilte roimh gach duine, mná agus fir, tríd an CAO.  

Inniu, le beagnach 600 mac léinn ag teacht ó cheann ceann na hÉireann, déanann Coláiste Cheatharlach iarracht oideachas sna saordhána agus eolaíochtaí sóisialta a thabhairt do mhic léinn ó chúlraí éagsúla. 

Timeline

Carlow College was founded in 1782 and had its first admissions on 1 October 1793. From 1793 until 1892 Carlow College was both a lay college of the Humanities and a Seminary. The 1840s proved to be a decade of particular growth for the College. In 1840 the second President of Carlow College, Fr Andrew Fitzgerald O.P. (1814–1843), successfully petitioned the University of London to accredit degrees at Carlow College in the Arts and Law. In 1844 the Foreign Missions Fund was established to provide bursaries to ecclesiastical students who were ordained for dioceses abroad; of the estimated 3,150 learners to be ordained at Carlow College, an estimated 2,050 were ordained for overseas dioceses. Another important development took place in 1847 when the third President of Carlow College, Dr James Taylor (1843–1850) purchased 127 acres in Knockbeg, Co. Carlow for the younger learners of the College. With the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879, the Royal University of Ireland was established and the following year degrees offered at Carlow College were accredited by this educational body. In 1892 all lay learners of the College were transferred to St. Mary’s Knockbeg and Carlow College operated exclusively as a seminary for the education of priests until 1989. In 1990 Carlow College reclaimed its original remit by welcoming lay learners from all over Ireland to study third-level courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences. From 1990 the degrees at Carlow College were accredited by the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) (1990–2001), the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) (2001–2012) and Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) (2012–Present). Since 1997 Carlow College has embarked on a building and renovation campaign which has seen the development of new lecture halls and the completion of the Kathleen Brennan Students Centre, P.J. Brophy Library and the Delany Archive (2006). As part of its on-going support for the arts the College donated land to the Carlow Local Authority for the development of the Centre for Contemporary Art and The George Bernard Shaw Theatre (VISUAL), an €18 million development project located in the heart of Carlow Town. In 2011 Carlow College refurbished Lennon House to provide on-campus accommodation. With future development in mind, in 2015 the College completed the purchase of a site adjoining its campus. During its more than two-hundred-year history, Carlow College has educated generations of leaders, both lay and religious, in the public life of their day. Distinguished among its past learners were the Young Irelander, James Fintan Lalor, the Fenian, John O’Leary, pioneering churchman in Australia and the United States: John Therry and John England, the poet Richard D’Alton Williams, the impressionist artist, Frank O’Meara, and Paul Cullen, Ireland’s first Cardinal.
Skip to content