St Patrick's College ( ga, Coláiste Phádraig), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drumcondra, in the northern suburbs of Dublin, in 1875, with a Roman Catholic ethos, it offered a number of undergraduate courses, primarily in primary education and arts, and in time postgraduate courses too, mostly in education and languages. On 30 September 2016, St Patrick's was dissolved as an institution and incorporated into Dublin City University, along with Mater Dei Institute of Education, All Hallows College, and the Church of Ireland College of Education. The teacher training elements of those combined institutions currently form DCU's fifth faculty, the ''DCU Institute of Education''. All humanities-based courses at the former St Patrick's were then absorbed by DCU's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The campus of the former college is now known as DCU St Patrick's Campus.

History

Early years

The college was established at 1–2 Drumcondra Road in 1875, moving to Belvedere House in 1883 after its purchase by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin from the Christian Brothers, when the

Congregation of the Mission , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

(Vincentian) community took over the running of the college. In its first 25 years over 2,000 students graduated from the college. The college trained male students to become primary school teachers; other colleges trained female teachers. In 1894, a national school (primary) was established on campus and students would practice there.

20th century

The campus was redeveloped using a design by

Andrew Devane Andrew Devane (3 November 1917 – 15 January 2000) was an Irish architect, born in Limerick. He studied architecture at University College Dublin under Rudolf Maximilian Butler where he graduated in 1941. In 1946 he was awarded the Taliesin Fel ...

in the 1960s. This involved the construction of a number of new buildings, which incorporated the historical fabric of the older buildings on the site. A new church and residential blocks were also part of the scheme. Female students were admitted from 1971.

Linkage with Dublin City University

Cregan Library, St Patrick's College, DCU campus

St Patrick's College of Education was a recognised college of the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

from 1975 to 1995. In 1993, the college commenced its association with the nearby Dublin City University (DCU) which had been raised to university status in 1989. In 1995 the college of education formally ended its connection with the NUI and became a college of DCU. The college developed a number of arts and humanities undergraduate and postgraduate courses with DCU. The Vincentian administration of the college ended in 1999. In 2008 the college, along with other local education colleges,

Mater Dei Mater Dei (Latin for ''Mother of God'') is a title of Mary. It may refer to: Educational institutions * Mater Dei College (disambiguation) * Mater Dei High School (disambiguation) Australia *Mater Dei Catholic Primary School, Ashgrove, Queensl ...

and All Hallows, signed a new linkage agreement with Dublin City University. In May 2012, it was announced that there would be a €40 million investment in facilities at the college to provide for 2,500 students.

Presidents of the College

Daire Keogh, of the history department, was the 14th and last president of the college, from 2012 to 2016, taking over from fellow historian Pauric Travers (1999-2012), in September 2012. Travers had been the first lay president of the college when appointed in 1999. Previous presidents of the college have included Peter Byrne (1883-1919) when the Vincentian order came to the college (earlier the head of the college would have been termed the Superior), Jerome Twomey (1942-1948), Donal Cregan (1957-1976) and Simon (Sam) Clyne (1985-1999). Keogh later became the fourth president of Dublin City University.

Belvedere House

Notable buildings on the campus include Belvedere House which was built c. 1660 by Robert Booth, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Residents of the house included: * Marmaduke Coghill, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland * Henry Singleton, MP for

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

and later

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...

* John Bowes, 1st Baron Bowes,

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

* James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford,

, and former MP for Coventry * Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby, Church of Ireland

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

. Lord Rokeby founded, in 1790, Armagh Observatory. The Congregation of Christian Brothers established a novitiate in the house prior to transferring to Coláiste Mhuire, Marino, in 1875, when they sold Belvedere House to

Cardinal Cullen Paul Cardinal Cullen (29 April 1803 – 24 October 1878) was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and previously of Armagh, and the first Irish cardinal. His Ultramontanism spearheaded the Romanisation of the Catholic Church in Ireland and ...

for £3,000 for the establishment of the college.

Faculty and departments

The college was divided into two faculties, Education and Humanities. From the time of its affiliation to DCU, the college's offering of humanities programmes increased.

Faculty of Education

* Education * Religious studies and education * Special education * Bioscience * Human development

Faculty of Humanities

* English * Irish (Roinn na Gaeilge) * Mathematics * French * History * Geography * Music

Student services and students' union

St Pat's provided a variety of student services such as career advice, access support, mature student support, medical and welfare services and an international office. The college also had a students' union which oversaw clubs such as GAA, rugby, soccer, and other pursuits, and societies for drama, St Vincent De Paul, and a choral society. St Pat's Students' Union had two sabbatical positions and seven non-sabbatical positions. In 2015, students voted to change the structure of the union.

Erins Hope

St Pat's were invited to enter the Dublin Senior Football Championship under the name Erins Hope. Erins Hope were Dublin football champions on four occasions in 1887, 1932, 1956 and 1978. In 2007 Erins Hope failed to field a team for the Dublin championship and had to withdraw from the tournament.

Alumni

Notable alumni of the college include: * Patrick Breen - teacher and president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (1924-1926) * Patrick Deeley - poet and memoirist * James "Cha" Fitzpatrick - Kilkenny All Ireland-winning hurler * Brendan Howlin - TD, Minister for Health, Environment and Public Expenditure & Reform, leader of the Irish Labour Party * Enda Kenny - 13th Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) *

Ciarán Kilkenny Ciarán Kilkenny (born 7 July 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Dublin county team and as a dual player for his club Castleknock. He was previously on the playing list of Australian rules football club Hawthorn, as a rook ...

- Dublin All Ireland-winning footballer *

Bryan MacMahon Bryan MacMahon may refer to: * Bryan MacMahon (writer) (1909–1998), Irish playwright, novelist and short story writer * Bryan MacMahon (judge) Bryan M. E. MacMahon (born 10 April 1941Gaughan, J. Anthony: "Listowel and its vicinity: Since 1873 ...

- writer (1909-1998) * Patrick McCabe - novelist * Mattie McDonagh - Galway footballer (1936–2005) * John McGahern - writer (1934–2006) *

Páid McGee Páid McGee was an Irish psychologist and educator. Career McGee was born in Aughnacliffe, County Longford. He initially trained as a teacher at St Patrick's College, Dublin. He then completed a BA, HDip in Ed., and M Psych degree at Universi ...

- psychologist and educator * Michael Noonan - Minister for Finance *

Máirtín Ó Cadhain Máirtín Ó Cadhain (; 1906 – 18 October 1970) was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel ''Cré na Cille'', Ó Cadhain played a key role in reintroducing literary mod ...

- writer and Republican (1906–1970) * Peadar O'Donnell - writer and Republican (1893–1986) * Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh - broadcaster * John D Ruddy - YouTuber * Don Wycherley - actor

References

External links

Official site
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's College Of Education, Drumcondra Dublin City University Former universities and colleges in the Republic of Ireland Former education schools in Ireland Catholic universities and colleges in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in 1875 Educational institutions disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in Ireland Drumcondra, Dublin 1875 establishments in Ireland