Carlow College

[From the Dublin Penny Journal, Vol. 1, No. 14, September 29, 1832]

Carlow College

In an early number we stated our intention of giving some account of the various institutions of Ireland; and as a proof of it presented a view of Clongowes, and promised a sketch, which circumstances have as yet prevented from being fulfilled. In our future numbers we intend to give views and descriptions of the Protestant and Catholic foundations for the purposes of education, as one of our great objects is to call the attention of the public to whatever has for its specific purpose the tutoring of the human mind, and whatever is calculated to raise the moral and intellectual character of our country.

Carlow College was founded by the late Rev. Dr. Keefe, and was originally intended for the education of youth; it was opened in the year 1793 under the direction of the late Dean Staunton; and in addition to its primary object, it combines with it the education of the Roman Catholic clergy.

The College is situated in the centre of the town of Carlow, but is secluded from all bustle and noise, by high walls, which completely surround it. The College Park is spacious and delightful, well planted, and, as all College parks should, gives space for healthy recreation or calm retirement.

The building itself has been greatly improved and enlarged, and the halls, apartments for study, dormitories, &c. have been laid out on an extensive scale, and are arranged with a view to the accommodation of one hundred pupils. The system of education comprises the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, French and English languages; sacred and profane history; rhetoric; geography; arithmetic; book-keeping; and mathematics. A society of clergymen, who are members of the house, devote themselves to the various literary departments, and we have no hesitation in stating that their duties are discharged with ability and zeal.

Carlow College has attained some celebrity from its connection with the name of Dr. Doyle; but as the plan of our Journal excludes politics and polemics, we can only say that all parties admit Dr. Doyle to be a man of no ordinary mental powers.