Timeline

1842
1842

Foundation of Missionary College of All Hallows by Rev. John Hand.  Eleven young seminarians join in the first year.

1845
1845

Sixty six students registered in the college.

1846
1846

Death of John Hand. David Moriarty is appointed as successor. Focus of college alumni shifts to ministry of Irish emigrants abroad.

Beginning of the Great Famine, which forced millions to emigrate overseas.

1852
1852

1,000 year lease granted on the property

1853
1853

Senior house buildings constructed

1857
1857

Siege of Cawnpore, India. Joseph Rooney (ord. AH 1847) is killed in the massacre.

1860
1860

Student numbers exceed 200. All Hallows supplies priests for 50 dioceses worldwide.

1885
1885

Purcell House (known as Junior House) replaces the old Beresford stable house.

1892
1892

All Hallows priests account for over half of all 600 priests in Australia.

The Vincentian Order takes administrative responsibility for the running of the college.

1895
1895

New college Chapel built after fire devastates the original building.

1909
1909

Thomas O’Donnell appointed College president. Serving from 1909-49, he is the longest-serving President of All Hallows.

1914
1914

First World War. Many alumni work as Military Chaplains.

1922
1916-1922

Ireland in political unrest. The Easter Rising of 1916 leads to a War of Independence with the British state and its forces in Ireland (1919-21), brought to an end with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Disagreement between nationalists regarding the acceptance of this treaty leads to the Irish Civil War of 1922-23.

1923
1916-1923

An All Hallows past man, Denis Kelly was part of the Liverpool flying squad of the IRA in 1920, caught in action and was imprisoned in Walton prison. He went on hunger strike twice to get political prisoner recognition (unsuccessfully) and was released in 1921.

He went onto help set up An Garda Síochána, working from Dublin Castle during its handover to the State. He finally retired from Newbridge College as a professor of maths in the 1930s.

Kelly set up a fund to help provide tomb stones for Old IRA men who had fallen on hard times in later years.

1932
1932

Dublin plays host to 31st International Eucharistic Congress with the theme of The Propagation of the Sainted Eucharist by Irish Missionaries.

1942
1939-1942

Con Sexton (ordained in All Hallows 1930) was Chaplain to the 8th Division of the Australian Infantry forces during WWII. He was a POW for four years in the infamous Changi camp in Japan. He returned to his diocese in 1946.

All Hallows Centenary (1942). Celebrations are muted as WWII rages in Europe.

1946
1946

Cardinal John Glennon, pastman, dies in Áras an Uachtaráin on a visit to Ireland. He receives almost a state funeral in All Hallows.

1952
1952

The Fall of Pompey – 200-year-old Chestnut tree – said to have been used by John Beresford as a gibbet for Croppies during the 1798 rebellion.

1954
1954

Evie Hone’s stained glass Rose Window, dedicated to the Assumption, installed in college Chapel.

1955
1955

Senator John F Kennedy delivers a talk to students. His wife Jacqueline is close friends with Fr Joe Leonard, a staff member.

1956
1956

Betty Crowe is the first female academic to be employed by All Hallows. She teaches Spanish to those travelling to Spanish-speaking countries.

1958
1958

O’Donnell House, dedicated to All Hallows’ longest-serving and influential president, is blessed and opened by Most Rev Dr McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin.

1960
1960

Many bishops pass through All Hallows travelling to or from the Second Vatican Council, leading to vibrant discussions on the Church’s future.

1962
1962

Largest number of ordinations to date. 44 priests are ordained.

Mine Disaster, Burney, England. Liam Cotter, ordained in All Hallows in 1955, risked his life by crawling down a coal mine torn by an explosion and giving absolution to all 17 dead or dying men.

1963
1963

President John F Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas, USA. Christmas card, signed by the First Lady and posted prior to the tragedy, is received by Fr Joe Leonard, staff member and close friend of Jackie.

1970
1970’s

Retreat Conference Centre established in Purcell House.

By the 1970s many academic and administrative staff are women.

1980
1970-80’s

A noticeable decrease in vocations and student numbers continues through the decade.

New programmes introduced: Preparing for Ministry, Sabbatical programme and BA (Theology). Marie Slevin MMM is first female student.

1992
1992


1993
1993

Construction of new Catering and Dining Hall completed.

1995
1995

Declaration of the All Hallows College Trust.

1996
1996

Dunblane School Massacre, Scotland. 16 children and teacher killed by lone gunman. Basil O’Sullivan, ordained in All Hallows 1956, ministered to families of the bereaved and the larger community. This is an extract from Msgr O’Sullivan’s reflection on the tragedy.

1997
1997

1998
1998

Last ordinations of All Hallows’ priests.

2000
2000

Initial link formed with Dublin City University, which becomes the awarding body for BA & MA programmes.

2008
2008

All Hallows College becomes a linked college of DCU, while maintaining its own distinctive mission and values.

2010
2010

President Mary McAleese attends a reception to mark the first anniversary of the Adult Learning BA (ALBA), based on a model from the School of New Learning, De Paul University, Chicago, USA.

2011
2011

National Strategy for Higher Education (the Hunt Report) recommends the amalgamation of smaller institutions to form educational Centres of Excellence.

2013
2013

2014
2014

International Vincentian Business Ethic Conference held in All Hallows – the first time in its 20-year history conference is hosted outside the USA.

2014 was also the highest graduation cohort, with 73 Undergraduate and 91 Postgraduate awards being presented.

All Hallows announces intention to wind down operations while continuing to assist current students in completion of their studies.

2016
2016