The history of The Church of Ireland College of Education dated from 1811 when a primary teacher training college known as The Kildare Place Training Institution was founded in Dublin by the Society for Promoting Education of the Poor in Ireland. In the 1850s this institution was taken over by the Church Education Society for the purpose of training Anglican teachers for church schools. This College was taken over in 1878 by the General Synod of the Church of Ireland and six years later became a recognised denominational college with the Archbishop of Dublin as ex officio manager and Chairman of the Board of Governors. In 1884 under the guidance of Archbishop Plunket affiliated to the state national school system. In the 1970s a Bachelor of Education degree was introduced and since then has been taught jointly by Trinity College, University of Dublin and The Church of Ireland College of Education. It is also the oldest teacher training establishment in Ireland. While it holds the fewest students in comparison to the other colleges, it is renowned for its esteemed graduates. The CICE course had a mandatory religious element preparing teachers to teach in Protestant run primary schools. Student accommodation was also available on campus for both students of the college or of other colleges. In 2011 the college celebrated its bicentenary, with a number of events celebrating the college's contribution to education in Ireland. In 2012, the Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn, made comments regarding the reduction in the number of teacher training colleges, with a number of small colleges earmarked for closure or encouraged to merge with other institutions. Following this, the board of governors, including the principal, Anne Lodge and the Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, ended the historic link with Trinity College, and entered into negotiations with Dublin City University where CICE was fully incorporated on 1 October 2016. This proved incredibly controversial, and many people including former CICE governors and leading Church of Ireland members believed that the college was closed without adequate consultation from the archbishop and the principal. The current DCU Institute of Education comprises DCU's own Education Department, CICE, Mater Dei Institute and St Patrick's College, Dublin. The college's religious element is overseen within DCU by the Church of Ireland Centre headed up by Anne Lodge, the final Principal of CICE.
