St Patrick's College


Part of NUI Maynooth, and turning out Catholic priests since 1795, St Patrick's College & Seminary is Ireland's second-oldest university (after Trinity College, Dublin). The college buildings are impressive – Gothic architect Augustus Pugin had a hand in designing them – and the grounds contain a number of lofty Georgian and neo-Gothic buildings, gardens and squares. It's worth taking the guided tour to see the College Chapel, the world's largest choir chapel, with stalls for more than 450 choristers.

The college was founded so that aspiring priests didn't have to skip off to seminary school in France – and so get infected with strains of republicanism and revolution. In 1898 it was made a Pontifical College (which meant that its curriculum was determined and controlled by the Holy See) and in 1910 it became part of the then recently established National University of Ireland. The college's student body remained exclusively clerical until 1966 when lay students were finally admitted, but even today, despite being part of the bigger university, it remains largely autonomous and its 80-odd male seminarians are distinct from the university's 8500 other students.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

2. Maynooth Castle

0.17 MILES

At the west end of the town centre you can see the ruined gatehouse, keep and great hall of this 13th-century castle, once home to the Fitzgerald family…

3. Castletown House

3.49 MILES

Magnificent Castletown House is Ireland’s single-most imposing Georgian estate, and a testament to the vast wealth enjoyed by the Anglo-Irish gentry…

5. Oughterard Round Tower & Cemetery

7.16 MILES

The 10m-tall stump of an 8th-century round tower marks this ancient Christian site, 7km southeast of Straffan. Its name in Irish means 'high place', and…

6. Farmleigh

9.88 MILES

The Irish government's official guesthouse is this fine Georgian-Victorian pile designed by James Gandon. Originally part of the Guinness estate, it was…

7. Strawberry Beds

10.23 MILES

Running alongside the northern banks of the Liffey between the villages of Chapelizod and Lucan, roughly along the western edge of Phoenix Park, is the…

8. Dunsany Castle

10.88 MILES

You can see how the other 1% lives at Dunsany Castle, 5km south of Tara on the Dunshaughlin–Kilmessan road. The residence of the lords of Dunsany, it's…