DINGLE, IRELAND – Fairfield, Connecticut-based Sacred Heart University officially opened its newly renovated and expanded campus here on March 28. This marks a significant milestone in the university’s two-decade-long commitment to higher education and community engagement in the region.
The campus, known locally as Ollscoil An Chroí Naofa and informally as SHU Dingle, will welcome students into its new state-of-the-art facilities following years of sustained growth.
Sacred Heart University has maintained a study abroad presence in Dingle since 2004 operating out of the Díseart Centre of Irish Spirituality and Culture.
Norma Foley, minister for children, equality, disability, integration and youth of Ireland, presided over the formal dedication.
SHU Dingle hosts more than 500 U.S. college students annually, welcoming participants from Sacred Heart as well as from a variety of other U.S. institutions. Students engage in immersive semester-long and short-term study abroad programs taught largely by local instructors.
Course offerings span such disciplines as Celtic religious traditions, Irish folklore, Irish music, filmmaking, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, environmental studies, nursing and more.
SHU Dingle serves as a vital source of employment for faculty and staff, who not only provide high-quality instruction and administrative support but also engage in innovative research initiatives such as the Deep Maps Corca Dhuibhne project, the Dingle Watershed and Weather Tracking Project and the John Moriarty Institute.
In 2017, Sacred Heart University acquired the former Christian Brothers School in Dingle, undertaking a comprehensive restoration to transform the site into a premier higher education facility.
