Malahide Castle

When in Ireland, you have to go to a castle, especially the Malahide Castle. If you're interested in old history of an English family who has owned this castle for 800 years, this is the place. There is even some paranormal activity within this attraction in Ireland.

Malahide Castle

The history of the Talbot family goes all the way back to 1175. It was the home of the Talbot family for 800 years until 1975 when the last member of the family couldn't afford the inheritance taxes any longer and sold the castle to the Irish State as an attraction site.

The Talbot's are an English family holding the title of "Earls of Shrewsbury". They arrived in England during the Norman invasion with William the Conqueror.

Richard Talbot, who was a knight, was granted the land by Henry II for his "war-like" services in the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland. Many of the family members lived throughout the castle in which specific rooms were designated for events. Many balls and gatherings were held in the Large Drawing room.

Dining Room

Also, the castle was taken over by the Cromwellian soldiers from 1649-1660. This is the only time frame that this castle wasn't owned by the Talbot's. Oliver Cromwell brought over the anti-Catholic laws and wanted control over Ireland. Thus, the beginning of the Penal Laws.

The castle survived losses like the Penal Laws and the Battle of the Boyne. The Penal Laws were from 1695-1728, which took a toll on many Catholics because their rights were taken. The Battle of the Boyne in 1690 involved 14 members of the family being killed during their breakfast. One member survived this.

Castles are typical in Ireland, but this particular one is unique because it has so much history behind it and it was owned for 800 years! Make sure if you travel to Ireland, visit the Malahide Castle!

Maynooth College

St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, is the national seminary for Ireland as well as a pontifical university, located in the village of Maynooth. Together, the college is known as Maynooth College.

Maynooth College as it is known today has a long and complicated history. It was officially established as the Royal College of St Patrick by an act of parliament in 1795. A man by the name of Thomas Pelham, the chief secretary of Ireland at the time, introduce the bill for a foundation of a Catholic college, which was then enacted by parliament.

Before the creation of St Patrick’s, men studying to become priests could not receive their education in Ireland. In order to receive a college education, and become a priest, men had to travel to mainland Europe, France in particular, and study there.

During the French Revolutionary war, however, England was worried that these men coming back to Ireland from studying in France would have adapted a revolutionary way of thinking. Having too much on their plates, and not wanting to deal with an Irish revolution on top of the French, British government slowly began removing the Penal Laws, including allowing Irish priests to be educated in their homeland.

Established on June 5, 1795 as the Royal College of St Patrick, it’s initial purpose was to provide a university education for Catholic lay and ecclesiastical students.

The lay college, or the college for regular people, not religious life, was based in Riverstown House on the South campus. This part of the college closed down in 1814, after the opening of the Clongowes Wood College, a voluntary secondary boarding school, and the Royal College of St Patrick functioned solely as a seminary for almost 150 years.

In 1966, the college allowed lay students to attend once more. St Patrick’s became a constituent college of the Catholic University of Ireland, while the Pontifical University of Maynooth continues to confer its own theology degrees, as these had been prohibited in the Royal University of Ireland.

It wasn’t until 1997, with the passing of the UniversitiesAct, that resulted in the transfer of faculties, such as arts, Celtic studies, philosophy, and science, of the recognized college of St Patrick’s college to the new university.

Since it’s creation, the seminary at St Patrick’s College has ordained more than 11,000 priests. Most recently, in 2016, the seminary found 80 men were studying for priesthood.