Catholic
Emancipation:
The relaxation of the Penal Laws
that came with the Catholic Relief Acts of
1782 and 1793 led to the founding of Maynooth and eventually many other
theological colleges.
It also, of
course, created a demand for Diocesan Seminaries to
encourage and maintain the supply of
suitable
clerical students. Catholic Emancipation in 1829 gave the Catholic
middle classes increased self-confidence and higher social, political and
educational aspirations.
Revolution...
The French
Revolution
and the years of war that
followed brought about the closure
of
many Irish Colleges on the
Continent and caused the Irish Bishops to address the question of home-based
seminaries.
Decline
of
Classical Schools...
Dr. Moriarty wrote:
“The
Famine swept away the old schoolmasters...”
of the days “...when there was a classical school school in almost every Kerry
village ...and numbers of young men came from many parts of Ireland to learn
Latin and Greek.”
.
Along with the schools of the religious
orders, the new diocesan colleges would
provide suitably prepared
undergraduates for the Major Seminaries and the
Catholic
University.
Indeed, such candidates were necessary for the survival of the struggling
University and St. Brendan’s, as an
“affiliated”
school
( Canon Coffey, 1875 letter to clergy),
made a significant contribution, “...
the Seminary furnishes the largest number of
matriculated students to the University of any school in
Ireland.”
January 22, 2012