In 1869 Bishop
Moriarty
instituted
a diocesan collection
to help fund new college buildings. The
Seminary Collection, as it came to be known, continued until
the 1970’s.
The
depressed years of the 1880’s temporarily reduced the yield from the collection and
sent the
Naughten rentals into a terminal decline
The Land Acts further reduced the rentals until eventually the property
yielded no income to the school.
The Intermediate Education Act of 1878 brought
in a payments by results
system,
whereby government financing of
schools
was
based on the performance
of
students in the Intermediate exams.
Prizes and exhibitions were given to
the best students.
However, this
contribution was gradually reduced as more and more students entered
second-level and competition for the limited amount of funding became more
intense.
January 22, 2012