The most famous and largest of the Irish colleges in Spain was that of Salamanca, founded, at the petition of Father Thomas White, by a decree of
King Philip II, dated 1592. The support of the students was provided for by a royal endowment. That same year, the King gave Father Thomas White permission to bring ten students from Valladolid to Salamanca, where they were provided with a stipend so that they could continue their studies. The King placed the school under the direction of the
Society of Jesus; the first rector was Irish Jesuit
Father James Archer who was sent from Flanders. In the following years Archer visited the Spanish court regularly in an effort to secure scarce funding for the institution. White went to Lisbon to assist with the college founded there by
John Howling, but in July 1593 returned to Salamanca and joined the Jesuits. He spent the next three years fundraising for the schools at Lisbon, Salamanca, and Santiago. In 1596 he returned to Ireland to enlist students and raise funds. The college eventually invested in property such as olive groves and vineyards in order to have a more stable source of income and produced its own food from a small farm. In 1608 the Salamanca College was incorporated into the University of Salamanca. In 1610
King Philip III donated a house which came to be known as
El Real Colegio de San Patricio de Nobles Irlandeses (The Royal College of Irish Nobles). Upon entering the college, students intending to become priests swore an oath that upon completion of their studies they would go on the Irish mission. They also promised to reimburse the college their expenses if they did not complete their studies. The course of study typically lasted seven years. Before returning to Ireland, newly ordained priests could apply to the king for the
viaticum, approximately 100 ducats to cover travel expenses. The college closed in 1807 due to the
Peninsular War. French troops looted the college and many records were lost. Some of the students served with
Sir John Moore as interpreters.
Patrick Curtis, (known as
Don Patricio Cortés), subsequently Bishop of Armagh, held office from 1781 to 1812 and rendered valuable service to the
Duke of Wellington during the
Peninsular War. Dr. Curtis was spymaster of a network that provided intelligence to Wellesley's
Anglo-Portuguese Army. The Irish returned after the war, and in 1838, through the good offices of the English Ambassador,
George Villiers, the town council gave them the use of the
Fonseca Palace. Also known as the
Colegio Mayor de Santiago el Zebedeo, it had been founded in 1519 by
Alonso de Fonseca, archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, in order to provide Galician students with a college in which to study within the University of Salamanca. In the 19th century, the Spanish government dissolved the university's faculties of canon law and theology. In 1910 the Irish students at Salamanca numbered about thirty and attended lectures at the diocesan seminary in lieu of a theology faculty of the university. The college was supported chiefly by ancient endowments, which were subject to the control of the Spanish Government. The students again left in 1936 with the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War and the building was requisitioned by General Franco. From June 1937 to May 1939 it was occupied by the German embassy. With the opening of seminaries in Ireland, there was less need of the facility in Salamanca, which was in poor repair. The Irish bishops negotiated turning over the premises to the University of Salamanca, which now uses it as a postgraduate residence and cultural centre. Over 360 years, until it closed in 1952, the college welcomed generations of young Irish trainee priests. The college archives were then sent to
St Patrick's College, Maynooth. ==Alumni==