St Patrick's College (), 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 Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, in 1875, with a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

ethos, it offered a number of

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

courses, primarily in primary education and arts, and in time

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

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 Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

, along with

Mater Dei Institute of Education Mater Dei Institute of Education () 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 formerly Clonliffe College, the Rom ...

All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing because of declining student enrollment. The sale ...

, and the

Church of Ireland College of Education The Church of Ireland College of Education (), or C.I.C.E. as it was more commonly known, was one of the Republic of Ireland's five Colleges of Education which provided a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree, the qualification generally requir ...

. 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 The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic Church, Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vin ...

(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 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

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

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

from 1975 to 1995. In 1993, the college commenced its association with the nearby

(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 and All Hallows, signed a new linkage agreement with

. 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 The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

. Residents of the house included: * Marmaduke Coghill,

Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland and a member of the Dublin Castle administration under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Kingdom of Ireland. In early times the office was sometimes called ...

* 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 ...

* John Bowes, 1st Baron Bowes,

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

* James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford,

, and former MP for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

* Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby,

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

. Lord Rokeby founded, in 1790,

Armagh Observatory Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate. In 2018, Armagh Obs ...

. The

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

established a novitiate in the house prior to transferring to

Coláiste Mhuire Marino Institute of Education ( Irish: ), abbreviated as Marino Institute or MIE, is an Irish College of Education, an associated College of Trinity College Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Its degrees and diplomas are award ...

, Marino, in 1875, when they sold Belvedere House to Cardinal Cullen 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 The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of t ...

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 The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(1924-1926) *

Patrick Deeley Patrick Deeley (born 1953) is an Irish poet. Patrick Deeley was born in Mullagh, Loughrea, County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, tak ...

- poet and memoirist *

James "Cha" Fitzpatrick James "Cha" Fitzpatrick (born 31 January 1985) is an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder for the Kilkenny senior team. Born in Knockmoylan, County Kilkenny, Fitzpatrick first played competitive hurling during his schooling at St. Kieran ...

- Kilkenny All Ireland-winning hurler * Paddy Hogan - Kilkenny senior hurler * Richie Hogan - 2014 Hurler of the Year *

Brendan Howlin Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure, National Devel ...

- TD, Minister for Health, Environment and Public Expenditure & Reform, leader of the Irish Labour Party *

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

- 13th

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

(Irish prime minister) * Ciarán Kilkenny - Dublin All Ireland-winning footballer * Bryan MacMahon - writer (1909-1998) * Patrick McCabe - novelist * Mattie McDonagh - Galway footballer (1936–2005) *

John McGahern John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in works such as '' The Barracks'', '' The Dark'' and '' Amongst Women'', he was hailed by ''The Ob ...

- writer (1934–2006) * Páid McGee - psychologist and educator * Michael Noonan - Minister for Finance *

Máirtín Ó Cadhain Máirtín Ó Cadhain (; 20 January 1906 – 18 October 1970) was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel , ÓCadhain played a key role in reintroducing modernist literatur ...

- writer and Republican (1906–1970) *

Peadar O'Donnell Peadar O'Donnell (; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist politician and writer. Early life Peadar O'Donnell was born into an I ...

- writer and Republican (1893–1986) * Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh - broadcaster * Brian O'Shea - former minister for health, agriculture, food and forestry * John D Ruddy - YouTuber *

Don Wycherley Don Wycherley is an Irish actor. He played Father Cyril McDuff in ''Father Ted'', Father Aidan O'Connell in ''Ballykissangel'', and Raymond in '' Bachelors Walk''. Wycherley is a fluent Irish speaker. He is the brother-in-law of actress Tin ...

- 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 teacher training colleges 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