St Kieran’s College, which is a Diocesan College under the patronage of the Bishop of Ossory, was founded in 1782. In fact records show that on the 12th October, 1782 a lease was signed for an old house in Kilkenny making St Kieran’s the oldest Catholic College in the country and ‘the first Catholic College in the Kingdom’. Something that was possible because Grattan’s Parliament had relaxed it’s penal laws that same year.

Throughout it’s history the College was situated in a number of different locations throughout, but always at the heart of, the city. The foundation stone for the College’s current neo-gothic home was laid and blessed in 1836. Two years later the College found here a permanent home. Since then, to accommodate its ever growing work of education, many extensions have been added making the building of St Kieran’s College a fine blend of historical and modern styles.

When St Kieran’s opened its door to students long thirsting for learning, its aims were simple: the education and formation of each student, both clerical and lay, to the highest standards, based on the values of the gospel.