or Manoath, a post town in the county of Kildare and province of Leinster in Ireland, about fifteen miles W. by N. from Dublin.

Before the establishment of Maynooth College, the Roman Catholics of Ireland were under the necessity of sending the young men intended for the priesthood to be educated at foreign universities. It was supposed that this might have a tendency to attach the priests to the interests of the foreign powers at whose expense they were educated; and to obviate such an inconvenient and unseemly state of things, the royal college of St. Patrick for the education of persons professing the Roman Catholic religion, was instituted by act of Parliament in 1795.

This establishment is under the inspection of the chancellor and chief judges; and it consists of two departments, lay and ecclesiastical, the latter supported by an annual public grant of L.8928. The lay college depends upon voluntary subscription, and was opened in 1802. The building, which is extensive and convenient, was erected at an expense of L.32,000. The principal officers are the president, vice-president, dean, bursar, sub-dean, eleven professors, three lecturers, and a treasurer. The number of students amounts to about 330. The town has also a charter school for fifty girls. The population is 1364.