Maynooth University

The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) was founded in 1997 by the Universities Act, 1997 as a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. The university is the smallest and second oldest ^[1] and now the fastest growing ^[2] university in Ireland; it is located in Maynooth, County Kildare, with approximately 8,400 registered students.^[3]

The university and St Patrick's College, Maynooth have a common history from 1795 to 1997. In 1966 the college allowed the entry of lay students; this greatly expanded the college and essentially set the foundation stone for the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. In 1997 the Universities Act resulted in the transfer of the faculties of arts, Celtic studies, philosophy and science of the recognised college of St Patrick's College to the new university. The university has also expanded into finance and engineering since its creation in 1997.

Any person who was a student of St Patrick's College, Maynooth and was conferred with a National University of Ireland degree as a result prior to the creation of the university is legally considered a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.^[4]

The University campus straddles the main Maynooth to Kilcock Road in County Kildare. It is divided into the North and South Campuses (usually known as the "new" and "old" campuses respectively). The campuses are connected by means of a footbridge that crosses over the road. The South Campus houses the facilities of St. Patrick's College, as well as most of administrative offices it shares with NUIM. A small number of NUIM academic departments also have their offices on the South Campus, including, Mathematics, Geography, Economics, History and Music. The main buildings, most of which were built in the nineteenth century, are the Aula Maxima, St. Patrick's House (including the college chapel), the John Paul II Library (built in 1984), New, Dunboyne, Humanity and Stoyte Houses which collectively form St. Joseph's Square, Logic House, and Rhetoric House. The first building to go up on the South Campus was designed by, and named after, John Stoyte; Stoyte House, which can still be seen from the entrance to the old campus, is a well-known building to Maynooth students and stands in proximity to the very historic Maynooth Castle. Over the next 15 years, the site at Maynooth underwent rapid construction so as to cater for the influx of new students, and the buildings which now border St. Joseph's Square (to the rear of Stoyte House) were completed by 1824. The spectacular university chapel is located on the south campus, just off St. Joseph's sqaure; masses and choir services are frequently held in the chapel.

The North Campus was developed far more recently than the South Campus (in the latter half of the twentieth century).Here, the main buildings are the Students' Union, The Canteen/Sports Centre, Biosciences and Engineering Building, Callan Science Building (named after the inventor of the induction coil, Nicholas Callan), the Arts Building, the Science Building and the John Hume Building. The €100m John Hume Building (named after arguably NUIM's most distinguished graduate) was opened in 2004; the most recent addition to the North Campus, it today forms the centrepiece of the campus and houses the biggest lecture theatre in the college with a capacity of more than 400 students. The North Campus also contains the Students Residences (with approximately 1,000 beds), most of the Services for Students Departments, a number of playing fields and sports centre which includes a fully equipped gym which is free to all university students. The remainder of NUIM's academic departments as well as many research institutes such as The Hamilton Institute and The Institiute of Immunology are also located on the north campus.

The university maintains a campus in Kilkenny, the "Kilkenny Campus", since September 1997 and this is based at St. Kieran's College. There are approximately 220 adult part-time students located on the campus and they are on bachelor and postgraduate certificate and diploma courses, primarily with an adult education emphasis.

Adult and Community Education

Anthropology

Applied Social Studies

Business, Management & Innovation
The Centre for Business, Management and Innovation ^[5] was founded in 2007 and offers undergraduate, taught postgraduate and research postgraduate degrees.

Economics

Education

Geography

Sociology

Biology

Chemistry

Computer Science

Electronic Engineering

Experimental Physics

Mathemathics

David McDermot is rumoured to be gay!

Mathematical Physics

Psychology

Ancient Classics

English

French

German

History

Media Studies

Music

Philosophy

Spanish

The Language Centre

• Education in the Republic of Ireland
• List of universities in the Republic of Ireland

• Official site
• Maps of Campus
• Students' Union
• Students' Forum
• Centre for Business, Management and Innovation Studies