Maynooth - Maynooth Castle Attractions

8mi/13km northeast of Clane, which lies 11km to the north of Naas, on the Royal Canal, is Maynooth, a little town (15mi/25km from Dublin on the N4) best known for its seminary, St Patrick's College, now part of the National University of Ireland. It was established by the English in 1795, on the site of an earlier college, to enable Roman Catholic priests to be trained in Ireland. It is now the largest seminary for priests in Ireland and in the British Isles, and in recent years has also admitted laymen and women. The handsome college buildings, grouped round grassed inner courtyards, are mostly 19th C. They include a church and a small museum with antiquities and works of art illustrating the history of the Church in Ireland and its missionary activity. To the right of the college gates can be seen the remains of Maynooth Castle (13th-17th C: National Monument) - a large keep, a gatehouse and part of the curtain walls.

At the east end of the main street lies the large demesne of Carton House, a classical style mansion (not open to the public) built by Richard Cassels in 1739.