Dromantine House was a seminary of the

Society of African Missions The Society of African Missions ( la, Societas Missionum ad Afros; ) abbreviated SMA, also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious Society of Apostolic Life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856 ...

from 1926 until 1972. The estate is still owned by the

but currently serves as a "Retreat and Conference Centre" Over its lifetime as a seminary some 600 priests were ordained for service in Africa. The decision was taken that from 1972 students would train at the National Seminary in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

. Prior to the acquisition of Dromatine the

in Ireland had St. Joseph's Seminary on the Blackrock Road in Cork. The seminary and its students were transferred to Dromantine House. The Society of African Missions also had a Novitiate in at Cloughballymore, Kilcolgan, Co. Galway, from which students would progress from this to the Major seminary at Dromantine. Over the years the building and facilities have developed and updated. The ''St. Patrick's wing'' on the east side was added in November 1931. the ''St. Brendan's Wing'' on the west side was built in 1935. In 1959, the ''St. Colman's Wing'' with 62 study-bedrooms and a new assembly and lecture hall were added. In 2001, after a number of years of renovations, the Retreat and Conference Centre was opened. Prior to the SMA Fathers taking over the property, the Estate was the stately home of the McInnes family, often called the Manor of Clanagan.

Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre

Now the House and its facilities are used as a Retreat and Conference Centre. Diploma and Certificate Courses in Theology are run from the Centre on evenings and at the weekends. A number of other pastoral care programmes for the

Diocese of Down and Connor The Diocese of Down and Connor, ( ga, Deoise an Dúin agus Chonaire) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the me ...

are also run from the Centre. The family event known as the "''Dromantine Fun Day"'' are run annually during the summer. The event has been the main fund-raising event for the House since the 1950s. During the event the grounds are opened for stalls selling food, attractions and live music is played on an outdoor stage. During the Summer, a summer school is run within Dromantine House. In partnership with the

Mater Dei Institute of Education Mater Dei Institute of Education ( ga, Institiúid Oideachais Mater Dei) was a linked college of Dublin City University from 1999 until its closure in 2016, located in Drumcondra, Dublin City, Ireland, near Croke Park, on the site of what was ...

(part of DCU) in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, the Society of African Missions at Dromantine and Methodist Edgehill Theological College in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

ran a three-year Exploring Theology Certificate course accredited by

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

, in Dromantine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dromantine House Educational institutions established in 1926 1926 establishments in Ireland