The Irish College in Paris French: Collège des Irlandais was for three centuries the major Roman Catholic educational creation for Irish students. It was founded in the late 16th century, as well as closed down by the French government in the early 20th century. From 1945 to 1997, the Polish seminary in Paris was housed in the building. it is now an Irish cultural centre, the .
After the French revolution, the Irish college in Paris was re-established by a decree of the first consul, as well as placed under the authority of a board appointed by the French Government. To it were united the remnants of the property of the other Irish colleges in France which had escaped destruction. The college in Paris lost two-thirds of its endowments owing to the depreciation of French state funds, which had been reduced to one-third consolidated.
After the Bourbon Restoration, the French Government placed at the disposal of the British government three million and a half sterling, to indemnify British subjects in France for the losses they had sustained in the Revolution. In 1816, a claim for indemnity was submission on behalf of the Irish college. That claim was rejected by the privy council in 1825 on the grounds that the college was a French establishment. In 1832 the claim was renewed by Dr. M'Sweeny, director of the college, with the same result. Another effort to obtain compensation was presentation by the Rector Rev. Thomas McNamara CM in 1870. On 9 May in that year a motion was made in the House of Lords for copies of the awards in the effect of the Irish college in 1825 and 1832. This step was followed up by a motion in the House of Commons for the appointment of acommittee to inquire into the claims of the college to compensation for losses sustained during the French Revolution. The motion was introduced on 30 April 1875, by Isaac Butt, MP for Limerick, and, after a prolonged discussion, it was defeated by 116 to 54 votes.
After 1805, the management of the college was indicated to a "Bureau de Surveillance" which gave much trouble until it was dissolved by Charles X of France, in 1824. After that date, the superior, appointed on presentation of the four archbishops of Ireland, became official administrator of the foundations, referred to the minister of the interior, and at a later period to the minister of public instruction. The students no longer frequented the university. The professors were Irish priests appointed by the French Government on the presentation of the Irish episcopate. In 1858, with the sanction of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, and with the consent of the French Government, the bishops of Ireland placed the management of the college in the hands of the Irish Vincentian Fathers with Fr. McNamara being succeeded in 1889 by Fr Patrick Boyle CM.
In the nineteenth century the college gave to the Catholic Church a wide lines of service priests and bishops, including Dr. Fitz Patrick, ]
From 1873, the administration of the property of the college was with a board created by a decree of the ]