The Church of Ireland College of Education (), or C.I.C.E. as it was more commonly known, was one of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

's five Colleges of Education which provided a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree, the qualification generally required to teach in Irish primary schools. Its degrees were awarded by Trinity College (the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin (), corporately named as The Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a research university located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin, whi ...

), as for the

Marino Institute of Education Marino Institute of Education (Irish language, Irish: ), abbreviated as Marino Institute or MIE, is an Irish College of Education, an associated College of Trinity College Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Its degrees and dip ...

and Froebel College of Education. It also provided postgraduate courses in Learning Support and Special Educational Needs and a Certificate Course for Special Needs Assistants. The college was located in Rathmines in Dublin. It was eventually the oldest teacher training establishment in Ireland. On 1 October 2016, the college was incorporated into

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

History

Origins and changes of control

The history of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

College of Education began in 1811, when a primary teacher training college known as ''The Kildare Place Training Institution'' was founded in Dublin by the Society for Promoting Education of the Poor in Ireland. In the 1850s this institution was taken over by the Church Education Society for the purpose of training

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

teachers for church schools. This in turn was taken over in 1878 by the General Synod of the

and six years later became a recognised denominational college with the Archbishop of Dublin as ''ex officio'' manager and chairman of the Board of Governors. In 1884, under the guidance of Archbishop Plunket, it affiliated to the state national school system.

20th century

In 1963 it was decided to sell the Kildare Place site, and Rathmines Castle was purchased for the College and school, to which they moved in 1969. In 1934, the Principal, the Rev. Canon E.C. Hodges in 1934, had commissioned chairs and an altar, and oversaw the conversion of a classroom into a College Chapel, which was moved to St Mary's (Donnybrook parish) when the college moved to Rathmines.

Closure and legacy

In 2011 the college celebrated its bicentenary, with a number of events celebrating the college's contribution to education in Ireland. In 2012, the Minister of Education, Ruairí Quinn, made comments regarding the reduction in the number of teacher training colleges, with a number of small colleges earmarked for closure or encouraged to merge with other institutions. Following this, the board of governors, including the principal, Anne Lodge and the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, ended the historic link with Trinity College, and entered into negotiations with

where CICE was fully incorporated on 1 October 2016. This proved controversial, and many people including former CICE governors and leading Church of Ireland members believed that the college was closed without adequate consultation from the archbishop and the principal. The current DCU Institute of Education comprises DCU's own Education Department, CICE, Mater Dei Institute, and

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College (), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drum ...

(Drumcondra). The college's religious element is overseen within DCU by the Church of Ireland Centre (CIC), based on the DCU All Hallows Campus, headed up by Rev. Prof. Anne Lodge, the final Principal of CICE. In 2022, and following the closure of St Mary's in 2020, the altar furniture from the original Church of Ireland Training College at Kildare Place was moved to and rededicated in All Hallows Chapel, All Hallows College Chapel, DCU, where the Church of Ireland Centre is, and reconsecrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, for use by Church of Ireland Centre and community there.

Academic offering

In the 1970s a Bachelor of Education degree was introduced and subsequently taught jointly by Trinity College (University of Dublin) and the Church of Ireland College of Education. The CICE course had a mandatory religious element preparing teachers to teach in Protestant run primary schools.

Facilities

Student accommodation was also available on campus for both students of the college or of other colleges.

Principals

Principals of the College included: *Rev. Canon Henry Kingsmill Moore DD (1884-1927) - first Principal *Rev. Canon Evelyn Hodges (1928 to 1942) *Rev. Canon R.J. Ross, M.A. *Dr. Kenneth Milne (1975-1984) *Mr. Sydney Blain (1984-2009) *Dr. Anne Lodge (2009-2016)New Principal of the Church of Ireland College of Education
dublin.anglican.org, July 2009. - final Principal

Notable alumni

* Patrick Kennedy - bookseller, writer and folklorist, trained as a teacher in Kildare Place * Trevor Sargent - former TD and Green Party Leader, subsequently trained as a priest, trained as a teacher

External links

Official site (archive.org)Trinity College Dublin, Official site

References

{{Authority control Former universities and colleges in the Republic of Ireland Former teacher training colleges in Ireland Educational institutions established in 1811 Educational institutions disestablished in 2016 Rathmines Church of Ireland buildings and structures in Ireland 1811 establishments in Ireland 2016 disestablishments in Ireland Church of Ireland