Irish College in Paris

The Irish College stands behind a seventeenth century limestone facade on the Rue des Irlandais, distinguished by a heavy wooden door topped with the carved crest of the Irish bishops. For centuries, this building served as the primary sanctuary for Irish Catholic priests and students who were barred from education or ordination at home under British penal laws. In seventeen ninety-three, the students faced a different danger when the French Revolution turned the building into a prison for priests who refused to swear allegiance.