Lucy Penelope Gwynn (1865-1947) was the first woman registrar of Trinity College, Dublin.

Biography

Lucy Gwynn was born in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

in Ireland. Her father John Gwynn was a Syriacist and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Dublin.''Burke's Irish Family Records'', 1976 Her mother was Lucy O'Brien, daughter of the patriot

William Smith O'Brien William Smith O'Brien ( ga, Liam Mac Gabhann Ó Briain; 17 October 1803 – 18 June 1864) was an Irish nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) and a leader of the Young Ireland movement. He also encouraged the use of the Irish language. He ...

. Her eight brothers included the author and politician

Stephen Gwynn Stephen Lucius Gwynn (13 February 1864 – 11 June 1950) was an Irish journalist, biographer, author, poet and Protestant Nationalist politician. As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party he represented Galway city as its Member of Parliame ...

, the academic

Edward Gwynn Edward John Gwynn (Donegal 1 April 1868 – 10 February 1941 Dublin) was an Irish scholar of Old Irish and Celtic literature, Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1927 to 1937 and President of the Royal Irish Academy from 1934 to 1937. Biogr ...

, the career soldier Major General Sir

Charles Gwynn Major General Sir Charles William Gwynn, KCB, CMG, DSO, FRGS (4 February 1870 – 12 February 1963) was an Irish born British Army officer, geographer, explorer and author of works on military history and theory. Birth and education Charles ...

, the cricketers Lucius Gwynn and Arthur Gwynn, the academic cleric and social reformer Robin Gwynn, the Indian civil servant and journalist Jack Gwynn and the Irish civil servant Brian Gwynn. She had one sister, Mary Gwynn, the wife of Henry Bowen and stepmother of the writer

Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Bowen CBE (; 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well her fiction about life in wartime London. Life ...

. She was a niece of Harriet Monsell (1812-1883) Lucy Gwynn was appointed first lady registrar of Trinity College, Dublin in February 1905. Trinity College had finally admitted women to the University just the year before, in 1904. Despite coming from a family of academics Lucy Gwynn had been unable to get a University education herself. She was 39 years old when appointed to her position in the university. Students described Lucy Gwynn as a pioneer. Her role as women's registrar was described by one of her charges as "to control our movements to some extent and to protect the college and the students from criticism". In 1907 Lucy Gwynn was summoned before the Fry Commission on Dublin University to defend the position of women at Trinity. She was supported by the parents of the students. The result was that the commission endorsed the principle of women's admission to the university. In 1922, the Dublin University Women Graduates’ Association was founded, under Lucy Gwynn's presidency. Lucy Gwynn never married. As an eldest daughter she was required to assist in the management of her parents' household and attend to them in their old age. From her mother's brother Robert Donough O'Brien (1844-1917), an architect, she inherited the house he had designed and built at Parteen-a-Lax in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

, close to

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

town. It was there that she retired at the end of her working life. Her hobby was tending its beautiful garden which lay next to the river Shannon.

Notable events

* 1905 First large group of women students entered Trinity College, Dublin in the Michaelmas Term. * 1905 Lady Registrar appointed. Rules and Regulations for Women introduced. Women had to leave the College before 6pm, had to wear 'cap and gown' and could not visit private rooms unless accompanied by a chaperon. * 1905 Elizabethan Society for Women founded; it organized a common room, debates, sports and lunch-room.

Lucy Gwynn Memorial Prize

Founded, by subscription, in 1948 in memory of Lucy Gwynn it is awarded annually in the

Michaelmas term Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...

to a Junior Sophister woman student for distinction in her course. The award is made by two women on the University staff nominated by the Board, and one of the female tutors. The value of the prize is €1,207.

Photographs

Lucy Gwynn + 2.png, Lucy Gwynn as a child, with her mother Lucy Josephine and her elder brother Stephen Lucius, 1866 Lucy Penelope Gwynn.jpg, Lucy Gwynn as a young woman, c.1875 Lucy P Gwynn (2).jpg, Lucy Gwynn in her twenties, c.1880 Lucy P Gwynn (3).jpg, Lucy Gwynn as Lady Registrar, c.1912 Miss Lucy Gwynn and Miss Margery Cunningham and Students.jpg, Miss Lucy Gwynn, Miss Margery Cunningham and students, 1910 Lucy P Gwynn (4).jpg, Lucy Gwynn at Parteen-a-Lax, c.1939 Parteen-a-lax.jpg, Lucy Gwynn's home Parteen-a-Lax, near Limerick Two Lucy Gwynns.jpg, Lucy Gwynn as an old woman, with niece-in-law Dorothy and great-niece Lucy Gwynn, 1947

References

External link