It initially functioned to provide education and training to intending overseas missionaries, who, in addition to priestly formation, often took degrees at UCD.
[2] From 1978 onwards, to cater for the training needs of the growing development NGOs and volunteer sending agencies, the programme of studies was opened to participants of all backgrounds, cultures, nationalities and religious persuasions.
To date, it has accommodated students from over 65 different countries, drawn mainly from Africa and Ireland but increasingly, also from Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.
As Holy Ghost College, this was one of the independent designated institutions under the aegis of the National Council For Educational Awards (NCEA), per an Act of 1979 and a statutory instrument of 1980,[3] allowing the Development Studies Department to provide Irish Government-recognised certificates and diplomas.
In 1994, with Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (the Danish Action Aid charity), Kimmage began running a Certificate in Community Development course in Arusha, Tanzania.
[5] In 2002, Kimmage DSC worked with Training for Transformation (TfT) in providing their Diploma Course for The Grail in Klienmond, Western Cape, South Africa.
Academic programmes offered by Kimmage DSC and now available from the Department of International Development at Maynooth University reflect a combination of formal and non-formal educational methodologies and are run at undergraduate (BA) and post graduate (MA and postgraduate diploma) levels, with options to study on a full-time or part-time basis.
Modules from the MA in International Development were also made available to students online through a "flexible and distance learning" (FDL) mode of delivery.
Kimmage DSC also provided a BA in International Development in collaboration with Maynooth University, as part of their undergraduate programme from 2013 to 2018.
There were various owners and tenants through the years Rocque's map from the mid eighteenth century shows extensive buildings on the location of the present Manor House.
Within two years of their arrival, the Shaw family had constructed a two-storey addition to the south side of the L-shaped existing building and more than doubled their floor area.
The Shaw family had remodelled Kimmage House until it acquired its unique Tudor style with triangular gables, spiral turrets and tall chimneys and false window.