This important question was settled in 1908 by the foundation of a new
University, the "National University," with its central authority in
Dublin and colleges in Dublin (the old Catholic University of which
Cardinal Newman was rector), in Cork, and in Galway. The University is
open to all creeds, and may not impose religious tests upon its
students, but its government is mainly in the hands of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, and it is accepted as a fair settlement of the
question of Catholic higher education in Ireland. In the management of
its internal affairs, the appointment of professors, the selection of
textbooks, etc., the National University is wholly autonomous and free
from Government interference. One of its most remarkable features is
that the Irish language has been made an obligatory subject for
matriculation. The endowment of the University, with its constituent
colleges, amounts to 74,000 pounds a year, and it was voted a capital
sum for building and equipment of 170,000 pounds. It need hardly be said
that no parallel to this institution exists in Prussian Poland.