All Hallows College

The college was founded in 1842 by Reverend John Hand[4] and, from 1892 until its closure in 2016, was under the direction of Vincentians.[5]

By 1973, the college had trained 4000 priests[6] for England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, South America, South Africa, India, Canada, Australia,[7] the West Indies, New Zealand, and the United States. All-Hallows alumni were the largest group of secular priests in California up to the late 1890s.[6]

The name of the Monastery may also originate from the fact that the lands it was built upon once belonged to the much older monastic foundations of the Priory of All Hallows owned by the Augustinians and founded by Diarmaid mac Murchadha in 1166, but later dissolved under the Reformation. The general area of Drumcondra back then was commonly known as Clonturk or Ceann Torc of North, Dublin. [8]

The academic training for a priest took seven years, of which three were devoted to physics, mental philosophy, languages, and English literature; the remaining four years were devoted to sacred scripture, history, liturgy, canon law, sacred eloquence, and the science of theology.[9]

After its establishment in 1909, some students would take examinations for the National University of Ireland, as some students had previously done with its predecessor the Royal University of Ireland from 1936 All Hallows students attended UCD's Earlsfort Terrace for their degree courses.

In autumn 1955, while on holiday in Ireland, Senator John F. Kennedy addressed students of All Hallows at the invitation of Fr. Joseph Leonard.[10] His speech referred to the suppression of religion in the Soviet bloc.[11]

In the 1960s, after the Second Vatican Council, the college began accepting women from religious orders and also all Lay Students, offering adult education, and certificates, degrees and diplomas in theology, humanities and pastoral studies.

In 1976, the Vincentian retreat and conferencing in St. Joseph's, Blackrock, moved to All Hallows. Similarly in 1981 the Vincentian Mission Team moved to the College.

The Pathways - Exploring Faith and Ministry adult education course commenced in 1985.

The BA degree, a four-year programme in Theology with Philosophy, Psychology or Spirituality was validated by the Irish governments NCEA in 1988. In 1991 the Evening BA and MA by Research began, which was followed in 1993 by the taught MA programme.[12]

In 1999, the colleges degree programmes were validated by Dublin City University following on from NCEA. The undergraduate degrees based on subjects were recognised by the teaching council entitling graduates to teach in secondary schools in Ireland.[13]

In 2008, the college, as with the Mater Dei, and St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, became a college of Dublin City University.[14]

In 2012, the International Peace Bureau conference was held in All Hallows, where President Michael D. Higgins presented the Sean McBride Prize.[15]

All Hallows College was home to programmes that provided students with the skills to promote fairness and equality in the workplace and in society: leadership and management in the pastoral arena, the community and voluntary sector and on all dialogue between public policy and social justice. Programmes were held in spirituality, supervisory practice and ecology and their application to questions and issues about the meaning of life that came up in work settings, therapeutic settings, family settings, relationships or in the context of social issues. The college enrolled 700 students.

The final president of All Hallows College was Dr. Patrick McDevitt, C.M., Ph.D., a Vincentian priest, from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

The college offered joint major undergraduate degree courses (where the student's two subjects were both considered majors and could both to be used as a basis for employment) in a combination of Theology and either Psychology, English Literature or Philosophy. These were offered under the Free Fees scheme that operates in Irish third-level education. Degree options were also available excluding Theology. In those instances, students applied directly to the college and paid full fees. The undergraduate degree courses were available to school leavers via the Dept. of Education's Central Applications Office (CAO), yet about 50% of first year students would be mature.[16]

The college offered postgraduate programmes in Social studies such as Social Justice and Public Policy, Management: Community and Voluntary Services, Leadership and Pastoral Care, Christian Spirituality, Supervisory Practice and Ecology and Religion. Most of these taught courses had graduate certificate and diploma stages prior to MA stage. The college also offered research masters and doctoral studies. All of the masters and doctoral programmes were entitled to tax relief under the government scheme.[17]

In 2017, President of All Hollows College in conjunction with Dublin City University launched a strategic plan for the future called the Aisling(Vision) program in order to modernize the courses on offer in the college and also develop a stronger academic and resource links with its new partner institute, Dublin City University.[18]

All Hallows ran Adult and Community Learning courses.

As part of the reaction to the closure of the aerospace company in Dublin Airport under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) a tailored degree course was provided in All Hallows for some 70 former employees.[19]

The college engaged in the Erasmus student exchange programmes with Liverpool Hope University as well as universities of Trier and Erfurt in Germany. All Hallows ran study abroad programmes with American universities such as DePaul University[20] in Chicago and St. John's University (New York)[21] both also founded by Vincentians. The college also engaged in programmes with Webster University, St. Louis; the University of Missouri and Regis University, Denver.

The college had a dining room, student common room, computer room, the John Hand library and study facilities. Students could use the facilities in Dublin City University and its sister colleges. Students had access to online learning via moodle. An archive of the college was hosted on campus. The college had on-campus accommodation for visiting students and groups. The Purcell House building hosted seminars, conferences, and workshops.

A number of non-profit organisations and charities such as Volunteer Missionary Movement, Daughters of Charity[22] Education and Training Service,[23] Ruhama[24] (Supporting women affected by prostitution and human trafficking), Accord Catholic Marriage Counselling, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Console (Living with Suicide), Migraine Association of Ireland, National Association for Pastoral Counselling and Psychotherapy, Marys Meals, and Older Women's Network (OWN) Ireland were based on campus.

On campus there is a monument to Fr. Hand and a graveyard where he and a number of other former presidents, professors and students of the college are buried. Deceased former students and staff are commemorated by trees planted on the college grounds.

The College Chapel was often used for concerts by choirs and musical societies, such as Liam Lawton, Dolce Choir,[25] The Offbeat Ensemble, and the Dublin Airport Singers.

On 22 December 2003, the college hosted a special Christmas edition of RTÉs Marian Finucane Show with choirs for the northside of Dublin, and featured Brian Kennedy, Suzanne Murphy, Anúna, Bernadette Greevey and the Three American Tenors.

The BBC Songs of Praise show on 20 March 2016, featured a recording of Enya singing in the college chapel.[26]

Along with the founder Fr. Hand, over the years a number of eminent people had taught at or been associated with All-Hallows Dr. Bartholomew Woodlock(became Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland), Dr. David Moriarty, Dr. Michael Flannery, Dr. Eugene O'Connell, Dr. George Conroy, Dr. James McDevitt, Dr. Sylvester Barry, Dr. Thomas A. Bennett, Monsignor James O'Brien (St. John's College, Sydney), and Dr. Patrick Delany (Hobart), have gone on to leading positions in the Catholic Church or other educational institutions. Two other noted professors at the college were the converts from Anglicanism Father Thomas Potter, and Mr. Henry Bedford MA.

The architect and designer of churches in Ireland James Joseph McCarthy was Professor of Ecclesiastical Architecture at the college.[27] The organist and composer Vincent O'Brien served as Professor of Gregorian Chant from 1903.

Rev. David Moriarty became president following the death of Fr. Hand in 1846, other presidents have included Dr Woodlock, the carmelite Dr. Thomas A. Bennett D.D. O.C.C. (1803–1897), the Very Rev. Dr William Fortune (1834–1917), Rev. Thomas O'Donnell CM and more recently Fr. Kevin Rafferty CM and Mgr. Tom Lane CM (served from 1970–1982). Dr. Patrick McDevitt took over as president in 2011 from Fr. Mark Noonan C.M. (1996-2011).

The college's main buildings were the historic Drumcondra House designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce for Marmaduke Coghill, Purcell House, O'Donnell house, and Senior house. The architect J. J. McCarthy extended the house and designed a college quadrangle, however only two sides were built. The college chapel was designed by George Ashlin in 1876, replacing an earlier chapel by McCarthy, the south side of the chapel is dominated by Evie Hone's stained glass window.[29]

• Drumcondra House - original Georgian house which the college was built around.
• Purcell House - Conference Centre and Oratory.[30] Originally known as Junior House[31] designed by architect J.J. O'Callaghan in 1884.
• O'Donnell House opened in 1958
• Woodlock Hall - Now the location of the Jesuit library from the Milltown Institute
• John Hand Library
• Senior House
• College Chapel

On 23 May 2014, it was announced that the College activities would be winding down due to financial difficulties, these were brought to the fore following a fundraising effort which included the sale of letters from Jackie Kennedy was cancelled.[32] The College was not in receipt of direct state funding, and was capped at how many students it could accept on the Irish government's free fees scheme.[33] The winding down affected academic programmes in the short term, but sabbatical course ran in 2014 and before and after Easter 2015. Efforts were made, liaising with DCU and its Colleges, to maintain the Adult Learning BA (ALBA) degree programme, which is the only one of its kind in Ireland.[34] In September 2014 the College announced it was seeking a partnership or a sale of the campus to facilitate this, hoping to retain a presence on the campus and continue its mission.[35] Since 2015 the adult education Pathways programme has been run by the Dublin Dioceses Centre in Clonliffe College. The final Faith Renewal programmes ran during the 2015 to 2016 academic years.

The DCU School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music is based on the All Hallows Campus. The DCU Church of Ireland Centre (CIC), based at the campus.

• Kimmage Mission Institute

• Official website