[1] The religious persecution under Elizabeth and James I lead to the suppression of the monastic schools in Ireland, in which the clergy for the most part had received their education.
It became necessary, therefore, to seek education abroad, and many colleges for the training of the secular clergy were founded on the Continent, at Rome, in Spain and Portugal, in Belgium, and in France.
[4] In 1590, Howling was in Lisbon, residing at the Church of Saō Roque, ministering to the English and Irish merchants and sailors.
The number of students in the Irish college at Lisbon during the eighteenth century was from twelve to fourteen.
[9] The College functioned as a seminary until the mid-nineteenth century, with the Irish Dominicans retaining a presence in Lisbon until 2021.