In 1808 the following story about a Maynooth student appeared in Watty Cox’s 'Irish Magazine and monthly asylum for neglected biography':
A Hungarian, who translated some of Ovid's elegies into Greek verse, travelled through these countries in 1802. He had been in both the English universities, in Edinburgh, and at the College in Dublin [TCD]; at each of which places he conversed with the cleverest men in the Greek and Roman tongues. After spending some time in Dublin College, curiosity led him to Maynooth. It was during the summer recess, and most of the professors were from home. He met a lad about twenty years of age, with whom he entered into conversation. He asked several questions concerning the internal economy of the college; and, among the rest, if there was a professor of Greek on the establishment. The young lad, indignant at the affront offered his Alma Mater, spoke to him in that language with the greatest fluency. The Hungarian was struck with wonder, and afterwards declared that the best Greek scholar he had conversed with since he left his own country was a student at Maynooth College
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