CICE History
The Church of Ireland College of Education is one of the oldest teacher training colleges in Ireland. Founded in 1811, it traces its origins to the Kildare Place Society Training Institution. This society, the full name of which was the Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in Ireland, was a pioneer non-denominational organization which supplied grants to schools, published schoolbooks and trained teachers in its model schools in Kildare Place in Dublin, in the years before the establishment of the national school system in 1831.
In 1855 the training institution was taken over by the Church Education Society of the Church of Ireland, which trained teachers for Church of Ireland parish schools. In1884 the college became a national teacher training college, supported by government grants, and training teachers for Church of Ireland national schools. The college flourished under the leadership of the principal, Canon H. Kingsmill Moore (1884-1927) and the students, both men and women from all parts of Ireland, undertook a two-year initial training course. The buildings in Kildare Place were extended and the model schools at the rear, where the students had their practical training, became well known for their high standard of education.
However in 1922, with the political partition of Ireland, the Church of Ireland Training College lost its northern students and became a much smaller college, serving the Protestant community in the Irish Free State. The Irish language became a core part of the teacher-training course and many students at the college came from the all-Irish Church of Ireland Preparatory College, Coláiste Moibhí, founded in 1926.
By the 1960s the old buildings in Kildare Place were out-dated and cramped, so the college moved in1969 to a new site in Rathmines. New students' residence, teaching, block, library, swimming pool, chapel, model school and principal's residence were built. In 1975 the new Bachelor in Education three-year degree course for primary teachers was introduced in association with the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and the numbers of students increased.
The Church of Ireland College of Education cherishes its historical roots and still houses the archives of the Kildare Place Society. The national school at the gate of the College is called the Kildare Place School. The window in the chapel, ' The Christ -child in the Temple' by H. McGoldrick of 'An Túr Gloine' workshops, was brought from the chapel in Kildare Place, and chapel furnishings were presented by the Ex-Kildare Place Students' Association of Northern Ireland, who loyally had kept in touch with the college. In1984 the College celebrated the centenary of its work as a national teacher training college and past students gathered from all parts of the country. The Past Students' Association of the Church of Ireland College of Education is an active body, supporting teachers in their work and keeping past students in touch with each other and the College. In 2011 the College will mark the bi-centenary of its long tradition of teacher training and of its commitment to education.