| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for the better Education of Persons professing the Popish, or Roman Catholick Religion. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 35 Geo. 3. c. 21 (I) |
| Territorial extent | Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 5 June 1795 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1879 |
The Maynooth College Act 1795 (35 Geo. 3. c. 21 (I)) was an Act of the Parliament of Ireland that established and arranged the funding for St Patrick's College, Maynooth as Ireland's Catholic seminary.[1]
Irish Catholic priests had traditionally been educated on the Continent in seminaries but in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during its ensuing wars many of these seminaries were either closed down or became inaccessible. Bishops were also worried that students on the Continent might become exposed to the "contagion of sedition and infidelity".[2] The Dublin Castle administration had supported the passage of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793 but was opposed to full Catholic emancipation.
- ^ Beckett, J. C. (1981). The Making of Modern Ireland 1603–1923. London: Faber and Faber. p. 256.
- ^ Beckett 1981, p. 256.