Maynooth 1795-: a 225-year+ presence in Ireland and the world

This website is being developed to bring together information, resources and insights focused on the history and heritage of Maynooth College, the popular name for a campus established in 1795 that has hosted - continuously or at various times - a national seminary for the formation and education of Catholic priests, a lay college, a Pontifical University, a recognised college of the National University of Ireland and an independent secular university in the NUI network.

In 2025, the 230th year of the institution's existence, the seminary, the Pontifical University and the secular university shared the historic campus, which caters for over 15000 students.

The website is concerned mainly with the history and heritage of the campus, its people, places and events in the years up to the establishment of the independent secular university in 1997.  It was commissioned independently as part of an alumni-sponsored project to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the college's foundation, a celebration that was sadly curtailed by the Covid 19 pandemic.

Work will continue on developing its contents in conjunction with the other interests who have been active in the cause, including the history departments of both the Pontifical University and Maynooth University, the archives of St. Patrick's College and the jointly-sponsored Russell Library Collections, individual staff members concerned with the administration and maintenance of the facilities and fabric of the historic estate, and the individual academic staff members and alumni whose affection for the institution remains an important factor in their lives.

While every effort is being made to ensure historical accuracy, the main goal of the project is to encourage public interest in the history of the institution and provide a basis for ongoing research and interpretation that will contribute, alongside more rigorous academic investigation, to the preservation of the college's heritage.