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| Dunboyne House, Maynooth College |
Students are starting their studies in colleges all over Ireland right now, many in
Maynooth University, others in Maynooth's
Pontifical University, others still (very few) in the
National Seminary of Maynooth. Yes, the College is unique in having these three constituent parts, i.e. secular university, pontifical university (i.e. offering courses approved by Rome) and seminary for the training of priests for all the Irish dioceses (and some foreign ones too). Now up to the year 2000, Dublin diocese had its own seminary, a fine account of which was published in 1962 all about the centenary celebrations in 1959. It contains a photo taken in 1960 of the college's 109 clerical students (pick out our own
John Jacob (second row from front, fourth in from the right) who died on 8th March this year and is buried in Saggart graveyard):
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Fr Richard Sherry, Holy Cross College Clonliffe,
Dublin: Irish Printers Ltd, 1962, p.188 |
Now for the news about Maynooth. There are 2 students for the Dublin diocese in Maynooth this coming academic year, compared to over 100 in Clonliffe in 1960. That fact must make us all think about and try to understand the great changes that have taken place since those flourishing times for priestly vocations sixty years ago.
