​Rev Dr John-Paul Sheridan was recently interviewed by Le Regard Libre about the history of St Patrick's in Maynooth

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Posted 29th January

Rev Dr John-Paul Sheridan, Acting Dean of Theology, was recently interviewed by Le Regard Libre, a French publication, about the history of St Patrick's in Maynooth

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Le Regard Libre interview with Rev Dr John–Paul Sheridan, translated from French.

St Patrick’s College, near Dublin, has spanned more than two centuries of Irish history. The fate of this unique Catholic institution reveals a past marked by political and religious conflict.

ANTOINE-FRÉDÉRIC BERNHARD antoine.bernhard@leregardlibre.com spoke with Rev Dr John –Paul Sheridan.

Rev Dr John-Paul Sheridan is a Catholic priest in the diocese of Ferns. He has taught for seven years at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, in County Kildare near Dublin, and is currently acting dean of the Faculty of Theology.

Founded in 1795, this higher education institution now consists of two separate institutions coexisting on the campus: the St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth and St Patrick’s National Seminary of Ireland. An expert in the history of this place, John-Paul Sheridan agreed to answer questions from Le Regard Libre.

Le Regard Libre: When the university was founded in 1795, Ireland was still under British rule, hostile to Catholicism. What was the situation for Catholics at the time?

Rev. Dr. John-Paul Sheridan: After Ireland was integrated into the United Kingdom, a series of laws, known as the Penal Laws, were introduced. Although they officially targeted all non-Anglican religions, their main target was nevertheless Catholics, who, as a result, had almost no rights. They were forbidden, among other things, to access public office, to join the army, to own land beyond a certain area or simply a horse of a certain value. But above all, they did not have access to any form of education beyond primary school.

How was the training of priests carried out?

To put it simply, the application of the Penal Laws for 400 years required Catholics wishing to become priests to go abroad for training. They had to go to continental Europe, to different “colleges”, that is to say houses where they lived together and from where they went to the nearest university.

Over the whole period, there were more than 56 of these “Irish colleges” across Europe, even if they were never all active at the same time.

One day, however, the noose finally loosened...

Yes. The Penal Laws remained in force until the end of the 18th century. In 1793, George III initiated the abolition of some of them. His reasoning: it was no longer possible to benefit from the presence of Catholic soldiers fighting for him in his army without granting them certain rights.

So this event paved the way for the formation of Saint Patrick’s College?

It was indeed a major turning point for education in Ireland. Around 1795, Thomas Hussey, the future first president of the institution, and Monsignor John Thomas Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, began lobbying for the creation of a seminary, and therefore

an institution offering higher education, to train priests in Ireland. Permission was obtained and St Patrick’s College was founded in 1795, with ten professors – some Irish returning from Europe, but also professors from the Sorbonne who had escaped the Revolution – and thirty students.

What prompted the English Crown to grant this permission?

One reason was to prevent the Irish from going to the revolutionary Europe of the time, which carried the risk of revolutionary ideas being imported to the island. An institution like St. Patrick’s, established and funded by the English monarchy, was to allow it to gain control over the training of the Irish Catholic clergy in an unstable period.

Where does St. Patrick’s play such a central role for the Church of Ireland come from?

St. Patrick’s was never the only place for training priests in Ireland. Other institutions existed, but they were small establishments, not large universities with major infrastructure. St. Patrick’s College was once the largest Catholic seminary in the world.

How many people did that represent?

You have to imagine up to 600 people living here, or even more at the peak, before the Second World War, when the campus could accommodate more than 700 people. In 1914 alone, 109 priests were ordained for the Maynooth seminary alone.

And in total, it is estimated that between 10,000 and 11,000 priests have been ordained here since the foundation of the institution.

The seminary chapel is highly regarded as one of the finest jewels of Irish religious architectural heritage. But its history is special...

Unlike the rest of the buildings, the church did not receive financial support from the English Crown. Charles William Russell, president of St Patrick’s from 1857, wishing to endow the university with an important church, had to launch a fundraising campaign.

But in the mid-19th century, it was not easy to raise funds for such a construction, since they were building at the time, a great many works, such as churches, convents, schools, hospitals, etc. Despite all, the funds were raised and the foundations of the building were laid in 1875.

Construction was completed in 1895, for the centenary of St Patrick’s College.

What makes this church special?

In addition to being fully decorated, it is the largest church in the world where all the seats are stalls: no fewer than 454. Such architecture is specially designed for the recitation of the Divine Office, central to the life of the seminarians, where the psalms are sung alternately.

Do we have any idea of the cost of construction?

The construction cost at the time 20,000 pounds for the building and 9,000

for the ornamentation, which is probably equivalent to tens of millions today. All this money had been raised by generally quite humble donations from a population that was generally very poor. But there was at the time a real pride in co-financing this church and seminary project, which helped to send thousands of priests all over the world.

If Ireland never had a political empire, like the great European powers, perhaps we can speak of a spiritual empire.