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The Irish College was established in 1607 to facilitate the education of Irish Franciscans at the renowned Louvain University during the penal times in Ireland.
It was one of about 34 Irish colleges which were established across Europe - always in close proximity to an important university.
The college was acclaimed not only because of the important contribution made in Ireland by the hundreds of friars who returned on completion of their education
but also the important work which was carried out in the college itself.
It was here that the font for the printing of Irish was developed, based on the handwriting of one of the friars, which set a standard for Irish printing for 350 years.
The first dictionary in Irish was compiled and Irish grammar was rationalised and simplified.
An important school of hagiography was established, which resulted in important literary works on the lives of the Irish saints.
It was also in the Irish College, Louvain, that the 'Annals of the Four Masters' was compiled.
This was a history of Ireland from its first recorded occupation by mankind and was based on original manuscripts which had been passed down through the generations.
Currently the Royal Irish Academy is undertaking an ambitious project to make the Annals available on internet.
The "Flight of the Earls" brought the O'Neills and the O'Donnells to Louvain, where they remained in the care of the friars of the Irish College during the winter of 1607.
A gravestone in the college chapel marks the burial place of Rosa O'Doherty, who was the wife of Caffer O'Donnell, one of the Earls, and who after his death married
Owen Roe O'Neill. She is buried together with two of her sons from the O'Donnell marriage.
In 1983 the Irish Franciscans generously made the college available for development as a secular resource for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
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