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| MAYNOOTH COLLEGE. Maynooth -in Gaelic, Magh-nu-adht-Nuat's Plain, called after a King of Leinster, is, from both an historical and ecclesiastical point, ot view, one of the most famous localities in Ireland. It contains the ruins of the Castle of the Kildare branch of the Geraldines, which was surrendered in 1535 to Sir William Skeffington by Parez, foster brother of "Silken Thomas"-who was in rebellion against Henry VIII - for a sum in gold coin. Skeffington paid the money, and immediately hanged the traitor. Carton House, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, is in the neighborhood. The sketch represents the entrance to the Catholic Ecclesiastical College of Maynooth, founded bv the Irish Parliament in 1795, continued by William Pitt after the "Union," and practically re-endowed by Sir Robert Peel in 1846, when the present structure- a Gothic quadrangula of (text missing) feet was erected. The College is entirely devoted to the education of theological students, of whom there are about 500, and the course extends over eight years In 1869 a disestablishment of the Protestant State Church, this Catholic College was also disendowed, and passed from under government control, which has greatly augmented its popularity. A bulk sum of L369,040 was given it in compensation for disendowment. |
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