In Spain Irish colleges were established at Salamanca， Seville， Alcalá， Santiago de Compostella， and Madrid. The college at Salamanca was founded by Father Thomas White， S.J.， a native of Clonmel， with the approval of Philip II.， in 1592 under the title of /El Real Colegio de Nobles Irlandeses/. The King of Spain provided a generous endowment， and the control of the college was entrusted to the Jesuits. Shortly after its foundation complaints were made in the names of O'Neill and O'Donnell that the administrators of the college showed but scanty attention to the claims of students from Ulster and Connaught (1602)， a complaint which seems to be justified by the rolls of matriculation， on which the names of very few students from these provinces are to be found. Those who presented themselves at Salamanca took an oath to return to labour in the Irish mission after the completion of their studies， and to enable them to do this a certain sum of money was granted to them from the royal treasury of Spain to cover the expenses of the journey to Ireland. Many of the most distinguished of the Irish bishops and priests during the seventeenth century were men who had graduated at Salamanca.[86] The college at Compostella was founded in 1605， was endowed partly by Philip III.， and was placed in charge of the Jesuits. It served as an auxiliary to Salamanca， and its students were sent there for their theological training. The College of the Immaculate Conception at Seville owed its origin (1612) to some of the Irish secular clergy. It was endowed very generously by Philip III. who placed the Jesuits in control of it in 1619. To help to provide for the support of the students the Irish merchants， who carried on a brisk trade with Seville and Cadiz at this period， bound themselves to bestow on the college a certain percentage on every cask of wine they shipped， while Paul V. granted permission to the fishermen of the province of Andalusia to fish on six Sundays or holidays on condition that they devoted the results of their labours to the support of the Irish College. The college at Madrid was founded by Father Theobold Stapleton (1629)， and was used principally as a hospice for the reception of Irish priests who had completed their studies， and who came to the Spanish capital to receive the money guaranteed by the king to enable them to return to Ireland. In 1657 George de Paz y Silveira， who was related on his mother's side to the MacDonnells of Antrim， founded a college at Alcalá principally for students from the North of Ireland. According to the directions of the founder the election of the rector was vested in the hands of the student body， a regulation that led to grave disorders， and finally to the closing of the college. The Irish college at Lisbon owed its existence to the activity of the Jesuits， notably of Father John Holing. It was opened in 1593， but it was only two years later that owing to the kindness of a Spanish nobleman a permanent residence was acquired， over which Father White， S.J.， was placed as rector. Acommunity of Irish Dominican Fathers was opened at Lisbon， as was also a convent of Dominican Nuns.
Irish students received a friendly welcome not merely in Spain， but also in the Spanish Netherlands. From the middle of the sixteenth century several ecclesiastical students from Ireland fled to Louvain for their education， but it was only in 1623 that Archbishop MacMahon of Dublin succeeded in founding a separate institution， the celebrated /Collegium Pastorale/ for the training of secular priests for the Irish mission. Out of his own private resources he founded six burses in the college， and at his earnest request six others were endowed by the Propaganda. The college was formally approved by Urban VIII. in 1624， and Nicholas Aylmer was placed over it as its first rector.
Though many of the ablest of the Irish bishops and priests of the penal times were educated in the Pastoral College， still Ireland is even more indebted to another Irish establishment at Louvain， the Irish Franciscan College of St. Anthony of Padua. At the petition of Florence Conry， Archbishop of Tuam， himself a Franciscan and a devoted supporter of the Northern Chiefs， Philip III. recommended the project of an Irish Franciscan College to his representative in the Netherlands， and conferred on the institution a generous endowment.
With the blessing and approval of Paul V. the college was opened formally in 1609， and so great was its success that it soon became the leading centre of Irish missionary activity. Here Irish scholars like John Colgan， Hugh Ward， Father Mooney， Bonaventure O'Hussey， Hugh MacCaghwell， etc.， found a home， and from the Louvain Irish printing-press were issued a large number of catechisms， religious treatises， and historical works， that did incalculable service for religion and for Ireland. Another very important institution at Louvain was the Irish Dominican Priory known as the Holy Cross founded in 1608. Aseminary for the education of secular priests was opened at Antwerp in 1629 as a result of the exertions and generosity of Father Laurence Sedgrave and his nephew Father James Talbot. It was supported from the revenues bestowed upon it by its founders， from the grants of the papal nuncio at Brussels， and from the donations of Irishmen， laymen as well as clerics. At Tournai a seminary for Irish priests was founded by Father Christopher Cusack， and its students attended lectures in the college belonging to the Jesuits. Nearly all the Irish establishments in the Netherlands continued their work until they were destroyed during the troubled period that followed on the outbreak of the French Revolution.