IT was the end of an era last month when the Franciscan Brothers officially signed over the Mountbellew Agricultural College to a new company and board of directors.

The facilities include college and farm buildings and 20 acres of land adjacent to the college. The college has seen substantial growth over the years through the efforts of the Franciscan Brothers, their generous benefactors, and the Irish Government through Section 24 of the Dept. of Agriculture, ACOT and Teagasc.

In addition, the Brothers will continue to lease over 250 acres of farm land to MAC [the name of the new company, Mountbellew Agricultural College] on a long-term deal, for the deliveery of college training and research programmes. The future of the Franciscan Brothers Congregation now depends on their African Brothers.

The HQ of the congregation was transferred to Molo, Kenya and the first African Brother was elected Minister General at the 2023 General Chapter of the Congregation – Ugandan born, Br. Charles Lagu who travelled to Ireland to oversee the transfer of the college and to sign the relevant documents on October 25 last. In East Africa there are over 30 African Brothers – many  trained in agriculture. There, the Brothers have two agricultural colleges in Kenya and Uganda.

The Franciscans set up Mountbellew Agricultural College in 1904, the first of its kind across the country, but the order’s  roots in the local town date back to the 1820s when they were invited to the area by the local landlord Christopher Dillon Bellew to educate the children on his estate.

During the episcopacy of Dr. John MacHale (1843-1877) the Brothers spread throughout the archdiocese of Tuam.

They later joined up with communities of like-minded Brothers in Clara, Co. Offaly and Farragher, Co. Roscommon. While the main focus was on primary education, they incorporated agriculture and technical subjects in the curriculum and they also conducted informal classes for local youth.

By the middle of the 19th century the Brothers had established new foundations in Loretto, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York. In the 1930s they opened missions in Nigeria and Cameroon and in the 1950s went to Los Angeles where they were involved in secondary education.

Pictured: Moving on: Tom Parlon, Chairman of MAC and Brother Charles Lagu, Minister General of the Franciscan Order formally sign the transfer documents for Mountbellew Agricultural College. Photo: Jacinta Fahy.