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, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last into endless future times , founder =
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, established = , named_for =
The Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...
.
The Trinity was the patron of The Dublin Guild Merchant, primary instigators of the foundation of the University, the arms of which guild are also similar to those of the College.
, previous_names = , status = , architect = , architectural_style =
Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...
, colours = , gender = , sister_colleges = St. John's College, Cambridge
Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...
, freshman_dorm = , head_label = , head = , master = , vice_head_label = , vice_head = , warden = , principal = , rector = , president = , chief_justice = , provost = Linda Doyle , deputy_provost = , officer = , administrator = , dean = , associate_dean = , benefactor = , HoCo_chair = , residents = , undergraduates = 11,718 (2016–17) , postgraduates = 4,707 (2016–17) , senior_tutor = , res_tutors = , head_of_admissions = , chapel = , mascot = , newspaper = , charities = , events = , called = , fellows = , endowment = €190 million (2018) , website = , affiliations =
CLUSTER may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study th ...
, CG,
LERU The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is a consortium of European research universities. History and overview The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is an association of research-intensive universities. Founded in 200 ...
, UNITECH , student_association = , jcr_label = , JCR = , mcr_label = , MCR = , scr_label = , SCR = , boat_club = , logo = Trinity College Dublin logo.svg , location_map = Ireland Central Dublin#Dublin#Ireland , map_size = , embedded = Trinity College ( ga, Coláiste na Tríonóide), officially The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, is the sole constituent college of the
University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dub ...
, a
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
.
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
founded the college in 1592 as "the mother of a university" that was modelled after the
collegiate universities A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the ...
of
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, but unlike these affiliated institutions, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "
University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dub ...
" are usually synonymous for practical purposes. Trinity College Dublin is a sister college to
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...
and
Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...
, and by incorporation, a graduate of Dublin, Oxford or Cambridge can be conferred the equivalent degree at either of the other two without further examination. The university is legally incorporated by "the Provost, Fellows, Foundation Scholars and other members of the Board," as outlined by its founding charter. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland's oldest surviving university. The college's main campus, in the heart of Dublin, has often been ranked among the most iconic in the world, and is the setting for a number of novels, films and urban legends. Widely considered one of Europe's elite institutions, Trinity is Ireland's most prestigious university, in part due to its long and distinguished history. Academically, it is divided into three faculties comprising 23 schools, offering degree and diploma courses at both
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
and
postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...
levels. The admission procedure is based exclusively on academic merit, with the college being particularly acclaimed in law, literature and humanities. It also carries out extensive research in nanotechnology, information technology, immunology, mathematics, engineering, psychology, politics and English. Trinity College was originally established outside
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
's city walls in the buildings of the outlawed Catholic Augustinian Priory of All Hallows. It was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudor
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic ( constitutional monar ...
in Ireland, and as a result was the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history. While Catholics were admitted from the college's foundation, for a period graduation required the taking of an oath that was objectionable to them. In 1793 this requirement was removed, but certain restrictions on membership of the college remained, as professorships, fellowships and scholarships were reserved for Protestants. An 1873 Act of Parliament lifted these remaining restrictions. While Catholics were not formally banned from attending Trinity from that time, Ireland's Catholic hierarchy discouraged it. Women were first admitted to the college as full members in 1904. The Library of Trinity College is a legal deposit library for Ireland and Great Britain, containing around 7 million printed volumes and significant quantities of manuscripts, including the
Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the ...
, which arrived at the college in 1661 for safekeeping after the Cromwellian raids on religious institutions. The collection housed in the Long Room includes a rare copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic and a 15th-century wooden harp, which is the model for the current emblem of Ireland. The library receives more than 500,000 visitors per year, making it the most important in Ireland. The university has educated many of Ireland's most successful poets, playwrights and authors, including
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
,
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Du ...
,
Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
, Percy French, William Trevor,
John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play '' The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly ...
, Sally Rooney,
Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel '' The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem '' The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his ...
, Thomas Moore and William Congreve; Nobel Laureates
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...
, Ernest Walton,
Mairead Maguire Mairead MaguireFairmichael, p. 28: "Mairead Corrigan, now Mairead Maguire, married her former brother-in-law, Jackie Maguire, and they have two children of their own as well as three by Jackie's previous marriage to Ann Maguire." (born 27 Januar ...
and
William Cecil Campbell William Cecil Campbell (born 28 June 1930) is an Irish biologist and parasitologist with United States citizenship, known for his work in discovering a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworms, for which he was jointly awarded the ...
; former Presidents of Ireland Douglas Hyde, Éamon de Valera, Mary Robinson, and Mary McAleese; philosophers
George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley ( Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...
and
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
; politicians David Norris, Edward Carson, Robert Emmet,
Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...
and John Redmond, as well as mathematicians George Salmon, Robert Mallet, Bartholomew Lloyd and
William Rowan Hamilton Sir William Rowan Hamilton Doctor of Law, LL.D, Doctor of Civil Law, DCL, Royal Irish Academy, MRIA, Royal Astronomical Society#Fellow, FRAS (3/4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He was the ...
. Notable faculty members at the university included Humphrey Lloyd, J. B. Bury and E. T. Whittaker. Trinity College Dublin became the first and only Irish university to enter the Top 50 rankings of both the
QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...
and the
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
in 2009, when it was ranked 43rd in the world. It is positioned 98th in the world as of 2022, and in 2021, it was also ranked the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
's most international university, with nearly 30% of its student population from outside Ireland.


History


Early history

The first University of Dublin (known as the Medieval University of Dublin and unrelated to Trinity College) was created by Pope Clement V in 1311, and had a Chancellor, lecturers and students (granted protection by the Crown) over many years, before coming to an end at the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. After that, and some debate about a new university at St. Patrick's Cathedral, in 1592 a small group of Dublin citizens obtained a charter by way of
letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...
from Queen Elizabeth Extracts from Letters Patent ("First or Foundation Charter") of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and establish a College, mother of a (the) University, near the town of Dublin for the better education, training and instruction of Anglo-Protestant scholars and students in our realm...and also that provision should be made...for the relief and support of a provost and some fellows and scholars...it shall be called THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY NEAR DUBLIN FOUNDED BY THE MOST SERENE QUEEN ELIZABETH." incorporating Trinity College at the former site of All Hallows monastery, southeast of the city walls, provided by the Corporation of Dublin. The college's first provost was the
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Ireland ...
, Adam Loftus (after whose former college at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
the institution was named), and he was provided with two initial Fellows, James Hamilton and James Fullerton. Two years after foundation, a few Fellows and students began to work in the new college, which then lay around one small square. During the next 50 years the community increased the endowments; considerable landed estates were secured; new fellowships were founded; the books which formed the foundation of the great library were acquired; a curriculum was devised; and statutes were framed. On several occasions the founding Letters Patent were amended by succeeding monarchs, such as
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
in 1613 and most notably
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
in 1637; he increased the number of fellows from seven to 16, established the Board – then the Provost and the seven senior Fellows – and reduced the panel of Visitors in size. They were supplemented as late as the reign of Queen Victoria, and later still amended by the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
in 2000.


18th and 19th centuries

During the 18th century Trinity College was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy.
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, meeting on the other side of College Green, made generous grants for building. The first building of this period was the Old Library, begun in 1712, followed by the Printing House and the Dining Hall. During the second half of the century, Parliament Square slowly emerged. The great building drive was completed in the early 19th century by Botany Bay, the square which derives its name in part from the herb garden it once contained (and which was succeeded by Trinity College's own Botanic Gardens). While Catholics were admitted from foundation, graduation was complicated by the requirement of oaths. Following early steps in
Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
, these oaths were removed, allowing Catholics to graduate in 1793, before the equivalent change at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. Certain disabilities remained. In December 1845 Denis Caulfield Heron was the subject of a hearing at Trinity College. He had previously been examined and, on merit, declared a scholar of the college, but had not been allowed to take up his place due to his Catholic religion. Heron appealed to the Courts, which issued a writ of mandamus requiring the case to be adjudicated by the
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Ireland ...
and the
Primate of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. '' Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...
. The decision of
Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, ...
and John George de la Poer Beresford was that Heron would remain excluded from Scholarship. This decision confirmed that persons who were not Anglicans (Presbyterians were also affected) could not be elected to Scholarship or Fellowship or be made a Professor. But after less than three decades of this, all disabilities imposed on Catholics were repealed, as in 1873, all religious tests were abolished, except for entry to the divinity school. In 1871, Irish Catholic bishops, responding to the increased ease with which Catholics could attend an Institution which the bishops saw as thoroughly Protestant in ethos, and in light of the establishment of the Catholic University of Ireland, implemented a general ban on Catholics entering Trinity College, with few exceptions. "The ban," despite its longevity, is associated in the popular mind with
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Ireland ...
John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive govern ...
, as he was made responsible for enforcing it from 1956 until the Catholic Bishops of Ireland rescinded it in 1970, shortly before McQuaid's retirement. Until 1956, it was the responsibility of the local bishop. The 19th century was also marked by important developments in the professional schools. The law school was reorganized after the middle of the century. Medical teaching had been given in the college since 1711, but it was only after the establishment of the school on a firm basis by legislation in 1800, and under the inspiration of one Macartney, that it was in a position to play its full part, with such teachers as Graves and Stokes, in the great age of Dublin medicine. The Engineering School was established in 1842 and was one of the first of its kind in Ireland and Britain.


20th century

In April 1900,
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
visited College Green in Dublin. Women were admitted to Trinity College as full members for the first time in 1904. From 1904 to 1907, women from Oxford and Cambridge came to Trinity College to receive their
ad eundem degree An degree is an academic degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another, in a process often known as incorporation. The recipient of the degree is often a faculty member at the institution which awards the degree, e.g. at ...
and were known as Steamboat ladies. In 1907, the
Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century u ...
proposed the reconstitution of the
University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dub ...
. A "Dublin University Defence Committee" was created and successfully campaigned against any change to the status quo, while the Catholic bishops' rejection of the idea ensured its failure among the Catholic population. Chief among the bishops' concerns was the remains of the Catholic University of Ireland, which would become subsumed into a new university, which on account of Trinity College would be part Anglican. Ultimately this episode led to the creation of the
National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universit ...
. Trinity College was one of the targets of the Volunteer and Citizen Army forces during the 1916
Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...
but was successfully defended by a small number of unionist students, most of whom were members of the university Officers' Training Corps. From July 1917 to March 1918 the
Irish Convention The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the '' Irish question'' and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wi ...
met in the college in an attempt to address the political aftermath of the Easter rising. (Subsequently, following the failure of the Convention to reach "substantial agreement", the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
was set up in 1922.) In the post-independence period Trinity College suffered from a cool relationship with the new state. On 3 May 1955, the provost, A.J. McConnell, wrote in the ''
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' that certain state-funded County Council scholarships excluded Trinity College from the list of approved institutions. This, he suggested, amounted to religious discrimination, which was forbidden by the constitution. It has been said of the period before Éire left the Commonwealth that "The overwhelming majority of the undergraduates were ex-unionists or, if from Northern Ireland, unionists. Loyalty to the Crown was instinctive and they were proud to be British subjects and Commonwealth citizens" and that "The College still clung, so far as circumstances permitted, to its pre-Treaty loyalties, symbolized by the flying of the Union Jack on suitable occasions and a universal wearing of poppies on Armistice Day, the chapel being packed for the two minutes' silence followed by a lusty rendering of 'God Save the King...". "But by the close of the 1960's ... Trinity, with the overwhelming majority of its undergraduate population coming from the Republic, to a great extent conformed to local patterns". The School of Commerce was established in 1925, and the School of Social Studies in 1934. Also in 1934, the first female professor was appointed. In 1944 Archbishop of Dublin
John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive govern ...
required Catholics in the Dublin archdiocese to obtain a special dispensation before entering the university. The ban was extended nationally at the Plenary Synod of Maynooth in August 1956. Despite this sectarianism, 1958 saw the first Catholic reach the Board of Trinity as a
Senior Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
. In 1962 the School of Commerce and the School of Social Studies amalgamated to form the School of Business and Social Studies. In 1969 the several schools and departments were grouped into Faculties as follows: Arts (Humanities and Letters); Business, Economic and Social Studies; Engineering and Systems Sciences; Health Sciences (since October 1977 all undergraduate teaching in dental science in the Dublin area has been in Trinity College); and Science. In 1970 the Catholic Church lifted its ban on Catholics attending the college without special dispensation. At the same time, Trinity College authorities invited the appointment of a Catholic chaplain to be based in the college. There are now two such Catholic chaplains. In the late 1960s, there was a proposal for
University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
, of the National University of Ireland, to become a constituent college of a newly reconstituted University of Dublin. This plan, suggested by Brian Lenihan and Donogh O'Malley, was dropped after officials of both universities opposed it. From 1975, the Colleges of Technology that now form the Dublin Institute of Technology had their degrees conferred by the University of Dublin. This arrangement was discontinued in 1998 when the DIT obtained degree-granting powers of its own. The
School of Pharmacy The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor o ...
was established in 1977, and around the same time, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was transferred to
University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
in exchange for its Dental School. Student numbers increased sharply during the 1980s and 1990s, with total enrolment more than doubling, leading to pressure on resources and a subsequent investment programme. In 1991, Thomas Noel Mitchell became the first Roman Catholic elected Provost of Trinity College.


21st century

Trinity College is today in the centre of Dublin. At the beginning of the new century, it embarked on a radical overhaul of academic structures to reallocate funds and reduce administration costs, resulting in, for instance, the reduction from six to five to eventually three faculties under a subsequent restructuring by a later governing authority. The ten-year strategic plan prioritises four research themes with which the college seeks to compete for funding at the global level. Comparative funding statistics reviewing the difference in departmental unit costs and overall costs before and after this restructuring are not apparent. The Hamilton Mathematics Institute in Trinity College, named in honour of
William Rowan Hamilton Sir William Rowan Hamilton Doctor of Law, LL.D, Doctor of Civil Law, DCL, Royal Irish Academy, MRIA, Royal Astronomical Society#Fellow, FRAS (3/4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He was the ...
, was launched in 2005 and aims to improve the international profile of Irish mathematics, to raise public awareness of mathematics and to support local mathematical research through workshops, conferences and a visitor programme. In 2021, Linda Doyle was elected the first woman provost, succeeding Patrick Prendergast.


Buildings and grounds

Trinity College retains a tranquil collegiate atmosphere despite its location in the centre of a capital city (and despite its being one of Dublin's most prominent tourist attractions). This is, in large part, due to the compact design of the college, whose main buildings look inwards and are arranged in large quadrangles (called squares), and the existence of only a few public entrances. The main college grounds are approximately 190,000 m2 (47 acres), including the Trinity College Enterprise Centre nearby, and buildings account for around 200,000 m², ranging from works of older architecture to more modern buildings. The college's main entrance is on the College Green, and its grounds are bounded by Nassau and Pearse Streets. The college is bisected by College Park, which has a cricket and rugby pitch. The college's western side is older, featuring the
Campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...
, as well as many fine buildings, including the Chapel and Examination Hall (designed by Sir William Chambers), Graduates Memorial Building, Museum Building, and the Rubrics (the sole surviving section of the original 17th century quadrangle), all spread across the college's five squares. The Provost's House sits a little way up from the College Front Gate such that the House is actually on Grafton Street, one of the two principal shopping streets in the city, while its garden faces into the college. The Douglas Hyde Gallery, a contemporary art gallery, is in the college, as is the Samuel Beckett Theatre. It hosts national and international performances and is used by the Dublin International Theatre Festival, the Dublin Dance Festival, and The Fringe Festival, among others. During the academic term it is predominantly used as a teaching and performance space for drama students and staff. The college's eastern side is occupied by science buildings, most of which are modern developments, arranged in three rows instead of quadrangles. In 2010, ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' ranked it one of the 15 most beautiful college grounds in the world. Trinity also incorporates a number of buildings and facilities spread throughout the city, from the politics and sociology departments, on Dame Street, to the Faculty of Health Sciences buildings, at St. James's Hospital and Tallaght University Hospital. The Trinity Centre at St James's Hospital incorporates additional teaching rooms, as well as the Institute of Molecular Medicine and John Durkan Leukaemia Institute. The college also owns a large set of residences four kilometres south of the college on the
Dartry Road Dartry () is a small suburb of Dublin, Ireland, often referred to as a corridor between Rathmines area and Milltown. Among the locations in Dartry are Dartry Road, Temple Road, Orwell Park and Palmerston Park. Boundaries Part of Dartry Road ...
, in
Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...
, called Trinity Hall.Trinity Hall which houses 1,100 students, of whom the majority are first years. In November 2018, the college announced plans, estimated at €230 million, to develop university research facilities on a site in Grand Canal Dock as part of an "Innovation District" for the area.


Chapel

The current chapel was completed in 1798, and was designed by George III's architect, Sir William Chambers, who also designed the public theatre opposite the chapel on Parliament Square. Reflecting the college's
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
heritage, there are daily services of
Morning prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion * Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism: ** Morning offering of ...
, weekly services of Evensong, and
Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...
is celebrated on Tuesdays and Sundays. It is no longer compulsory for students to attend these. The chapel has been ecumenical since 1970, and is now also used daily in the celebration of Mass for the college's Roman Catholic members. In addition to the Anglican chaplain, who is known as the Dean of Residence, there are two Roman Catholic chaplains and one Methodist chaplain. Ecumenical events are often held in the chapel, such as the annual carol service and the service of thanksgiving on Trinity Monday.


Library

The Library of Trinity College is Ireland's largest research library. As a result of its historic standing, Trinity College Library Dublin is a legal deposit library (as per
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates the legal deposit of publications in the United Kingdom. The bill for this Act was a private member's bill. This Act was passed to up ...
) for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and has a similar standing in Irish law. The college is therefore legally entitled to a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland, and consequently receives over 100,000 new items every year. The library contains about five million books, including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music. Three million books are held in the book depository, "Stacks", in Santry, from which requests are retrieved twice daily. The Library proper comprises several buildings in college. The original (Old) Library is Thomas Burgh's masterpiece. A huge building, it originally towered over the university and city after its completion. Even today, surrounded by similarly scaled buildings, it is imposing and dominates the view of the university from Nassau Street. It was founded with the college and first endowed by James Ussher (1625–56), Archbishop of Armagh, who endowed his own valuable library, comprising several thousand printed books and manuscripts, to the college. The
Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the ...
is by far the Library's most famous book and is in the Old Library, along with the
Book of Durrow The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229 Its origi ...
, the Book of Howth and other ancient texts. Also incorporating the Long Room, the Old Library receives 600,000 visitors per year, making it Dublin's third-most visited tourist destination. In the 18th century, the college received the Brian Boru harp, one of the three surviving medieval Gaelic harps, and a national symbol of Ireland, now housed in the library. The buildings known as the college's BLU (Berkeley Lecky Ussher) Arts library complex consist of the Berkeley Library in Fellow's Square, built in 1956; the Lecky Library, attached to the Arts building; and the James Ussher Library, which, opening officially in 2003, overlooks College Park and houses the Glucksman Map Library. The Glucksman Library contains half a million printed maps, the largest collection of cartographic materials in Ireland. This includes the first Ordnance Surveys of Ireland, conducted in the early 19th century. The name of the Berkeley Library has recently become the matter of some controversy, given
George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley ( Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...
's history as a
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
trader, leading to a petition for renaming from the Students Union. In August 2022, incoming Student Union President Gabi Fullam announced that the Students Union would refer to the library as the "X Library" in all official communications pending renaming. The Library also includes the William Hamilton Science and Engineering Library and the John Stearne Medical Library, housed at St James's Hospital.


Business School

The Trinity College Business School building is an €80 million construction for Trinity's Business School. It was inaugurated on 23 May 2019 by the 14th
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...
,
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to D ...
, an alumnus of Trinity College School of Medicine. The six-storey building, adjoining the Naughton Institute on the College's Pearse St side, includes an Innovation and Entrepreneurial hub, a 600-seat auditorium, "smart classrooms" with digital technology, and an "executive education centre." The near-zero energy building provides a link between the city and the main University grounds.


Organisation

The college, officially incorporated as ''The Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin'', is headed by the provost. Linda Doyle has been provost since August 2021. The terms "
University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dub ...
" and "Trinity College" are generally considered synonymous for all practical purposes. Trinity was originally founded using the model of the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, which are
collegiate universities A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the ...
that each comprise several quasi-independent colleges. In one sense, the University of Dublin exists only as a degree-granting institution, with the college providing the education and research; Trinity College was the only college to ever be established within the university.


Governance

The
body corporate In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...
of the college consists of the provost,
fellows Fellows may refer to Fellow, in plural form. Fellows or Fellowes may also refer to: Places *Fellows, California, USA *Fellows, Wisconsin, ghost town, USA Other uses *Fellows Auctioneers, established in 1876. * Fellowes, Inc., manufacturer of wor ...
and scholars. The college is governed according to its statutes, which are, in effect, the College Constitution. Statutes are of two kinds, those which originally could only be amended by Royal Charter or Royal Letters Patent, and which now can only be changed by an Act of the Oireachtas, and those which can be changed by the board but only with the Fellows' consent. When a change requires parliamentary legislation, the customary procedure is that the Board requests the change by applying for a Private Bill. For this, the whole Body Corporate's consent is needed, with Scholars voting alongside Fellows. An example of a change that requires parliamentary legislation is an alteration to the composition of the Board. This last happened when the governance of the college and university was revised and restated by an Act of the Oireachtas in 2000.


Provost

The provost serves a ten-year term and is elected by a body of electors consisting essentially of all full-time academic staff and a very small number of students. Originally the provost was appointed for life. While the provost was elected by the Fellows at the start, the appointment soon became a Crown one, reflecting the growing importance of the college and of the office of provost, which became both prestigious and well paid. But as time passed it became customary that the appointments were only made after taking soundings of college opinion, which meant mostly the views of the Board. With the establishment of the Free State in 1922, the power of appointment passed to the Government. It was agreed that when a vacancy occurred the college would provide a list of three candidates to the Government, from which the choice would be made. The college was allowed to rank the candidates in order of preference, and in practice the most preferred candidate was always appointed. Now the provost, while still formally appointed by the Government, is elected by staff plus student representatives, who gather in an electoral meeting and vote by exhaustive ballot until a candidate obtains an absolute majority; the process takes a day. The provost takes precedence over everyone else in the college, acts as the chief executive and accounting officer and chairs the board and council. The provost also enjoys a special status in the University of Dublin.


Fellows and Scholars

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
s and scholars are elected by the board. Fellows were once elected for life on the basis of a competitive examination. The number of fellows was fixed and a competition to fill a vacancy would occur on the death or resignation of a fellow. Originally all the teaching was carried out by the Fellows. Fellows are now elected from among current college academics and serve until reaching retirement age, and there is no formal limit on their number. Only a minority of academic staff are Fellows. Election to fellowship is recognition for staff that they have excelled in their field and amounts to a promotion for those receiving it. Any person appointed to a professorship who is not already a Fellow is elected a Fellow at the next opportunity. Scholars continue to be selected by competitive examination from the Undergraduate body. The Scholarship examinations are now set separately for different undergraduate courses (so there is a scholarship examination in history, or in mathematics, engineering, and so forth). The Scholarship examination is taken in the second year of a four-year degree course (though, in special circumstances, such as illness, bereavement, or studying abroad during the second year, permission may be given to sit the examination in the third year). In theory, a student can sit the examination in any subject, not just the one they are studying. They hold their Scholarship until they are of "MA standing" - that is, three years after obtaining the BA degree. So most are Scholars for a term of five years. Fellows are entitled to residence in the college free of charge; most fellows do not exercise this right in practice, with the legal requirement to provide accommodation to them fulfilled by providing an office. Scholars are also entitled to residence in the college free of charge; they also receive an allowance, and have the fees paid for courses they take within the college. But due to pressure on college accommodation, Scholars are no longer entitled, as they once were, to free rooms for the full duration of their scholarship should they cease to be students. Fellows and Scholars are also entitled to one free meal a day, usually in the evening ("Commons"). Scholars retain the right to free meals for the full duration of their scholarship even after graduation, and ceasing to be students, should they choose to exercise it.


The Board

Aside from the provost, Fellows and Scholars, Trinity College has a Board (dating from 1637), which carries out general governance. Originally the Board consisted of the provost and Senior Fellows only. There were seven Senior Fellows, defined as those seven fellows that had served longest, Fellowship at that time being for life, unless resigned. Over the years a representational element was added, for example by having elected representatives of the Junior Fellows and of those professors who were not Fellows, with the last revision before Irish Independence being made by Royal Letters Patent in 1911. At that time there were, as well as the Senior Fellows, two elected representatives of those professors who were not Fellows and elected representatives of the Junior Fellows. Over the years, while formal revision did not take place, partly due to the complexity of the process, a number of additional representatives were added to the Board but as "observers" and not full voting members. These included representatives of academic staff who were not Fellows, and representatives of students. In practice all attending Board meetings were treated as equals, with votes, while not common, taken by a show of hands. But it remained the case that legally only the full members of the Board could have their votes recorded and it was mere convention that they always ratified the decision taken by the show of hands. The governance of Trinity College was next formally changed in 2000, by the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
, in legislation proposed by the Board of the college and approved by the Body Corporate, viz., ''The Trinity College, Dublin (Charters and Letters Patent Amendment) Act, 2000''. This was introduced separately from the Universities Act 1997. It states that the Board shall comprise * The Provost, Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer, Senior Lecturer, Registrar and Bursar; * Six Fellows; * Five members of the academic staff who are not Fellows, at least three of whom must be of a rank not higher than senior lecturer; * Two members of the academic staff of the rank of professor; * Three members of the non-academic staff; * Four students of the college, at least one of whom shall be a post-graduate student; * One member, not an employee or student of the college, chosen by a Board committee from nominations made by organisations "representative of such business or professional interest as the Board considers appropriate"; * One member nominated by the Minister for Education following consultation with the Provost.


The Council

A Council, dating from 1874, oversees academic matters. All decisions of the Council require the approval of the Board, but if the decision in question does not require a new expenditure, the approval is normally formal, without debate. The Council had a significant number of elected representatives from the start, and was also larger than the Board, which at that time continued to consist of the provost and seven Senior Fellows only. The Council is the formal body which makes academic staff appointments, always, in practice on the recommendation of appointments panels which have themselves been appointed by the Council. An illustration of the relationship between the Board and the Council is a decision to create a new professorial chair. As this involves paying a salary, the initial decision to create the chair is made by the Council, but the decision to make provision for the salary is made by the Board; consequently, the Board might overrule or defer a Council decision on grounds of cost.


The Senate

The University of Dublin was modelled on
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in the form of a collegiate university, Trinity College being the name given by the Queen as the ''mater universitatis'' ("mother of the university"). As no other college was ever established, the college is the university's sole constituent college, and so "Trinity College" and the "University of Dublin" are for most purposes synonymous. Still, the statutes of the university and the college grant the university separate corporate legal rights to own property and borrow money and employ staff. Moreover, while the board of the college has the sole power to propose amendments to the statutes of the university and college, amendments to the university statutes require the consent of the Senate of the university. Consequently, in theory, the Senate can overrule the Board, but only in very limited and particular circumstances. But it is also the case that the university cannot act independently of the initiative of the Board of Trinity College. The most common example of when the two bodies must collaborate is when a decision is made to establish a new degree. All matters relating to syllabus, examination and teaching are for the college to determine, but actual clearance for the award of the degree is a matter for the university. In the same way, when an individual is awarded an Honorary Degree, the proposal for the award is made by the Board of Trinity College, but this is subject to agreement by a vote of the Senate of Dublin University. All graduates of the university who have at least a master's degree are eligible to be members of the Senate, but in practice, only a few hundred are, with a large proportion being current members of the staff of Trinity College.


Visitors

The college also has an oversight structure of two visitors: the chancellor of the university, who is elected by the Senate, and the judicial visitor, who is appointed by the Irish Government from a list of two names submitted by the Senate of the university. The current judicial visitor is Maureen Harding Clark. In the event of a disagreement between the two visitors, the opinion of the chancellor prevails. The visitors act as a final "court of appeal" within the college, with their modes of appointment giving them the needed independence from the college administration.


Academic associations

Trinity College is a sister college to Oriel College of the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and St John's College of the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. In accordance with the formula of , a form of recognition that exists among the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the University of Dublin, a graduate of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin can be conferred with the equivalent degree at either of the other two universities without further examination.


Teaching and affiliated hospitals

As of 2021, the teaching and associated hospitals are: * Tallaght University Hospital * St. James's Hospital * St Patrick's University Hospital * Naas General Hospital *
Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital The Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital (; ga, Ospidéal Ollscoile Ban ⁊ Naonáin an Chúim) is a voluntary teaching hospital providing a range of medical services to both women and newborn infants in Dublin, Ireland. It is managed b ...
* Rotunda Hospital * Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital * Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin *Peamount Hospital * National Rehabilitation Hospital


Associated Institutions

* Royal Irish Academy of Music * Marino Institute of Education * Church of Ireland Theological Institute The School of Business in association with the Irish Management Institute forms the Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management, incorporating the faculties of both organisations. Trinity College has also formerly been associated with several other teaching institutions, such as St Catherine's College of Education for Home Economics (now closed), Magee College and Royal Irish Academy of Music, a music conservatoire, and The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art, the national conservatoire for theatre training actors, technicians, playwrights and designers to a professional and industry standard. The Lir is also advised by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the UK.


Parliamentary representation

The university has been linked to parliamentary representation since 1613, when
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
granted it the right to elect two members of parliament (MPs) to the Irish House of Commons. Since the new Constitution of Ireland in 1937, graduates of the university have formed a constituency which elects three
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
s to Seanad Éireann. The current representatives of the university constituency are David Norris and Lynn Ruane, with one vacancy. Notable representatives have included Edward Gibson,
W. E. H. Lecky William Edward Hartpole Lecky (26 March 1838 – 22 October 1903) was an Irish historian, essayist, and political theorist with Whig proclivities. His major work was an eight-volume ''History of Ireland during the Eighteenth Century''. Early ...
, Edward Carson,
Noel Browne Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places *Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid * Mount Noel, Britis ...
,
Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...
and Mary Robinson. The franchise was originally restricted to the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of Trinity College. This was expanded in 1832 to include those who had received an MA, and in 1918 all those who had received a degree from the university.


Academic profile

Since considerable academic restructuring in 2008, the college has three academic faculties: * Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences * Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics * Health Sciences Each faculty is headed by a dean (there is also a Dean of Postgraduate Studies), and faculties are divided into schools, of which there were 24 as of 2021.


Academic year

The academic year is divided into three terms. Michaelmas term lasts from October to December; Hilary term from January to March; and Trinity term from April to June, with each term separated by a vacation. Whilst teaching takes place across all three terms in postgraduate courses, for undergraduate programmes, teaching is condensed within the first two terms since 2009, with each term consisting of a 12-week period of teaching known as the Teaching Term. These are followed by three revision weeks and a four-week exam period during the Trinity Term. Internally at least, the weeks in the term are often referred to by the time elapsed since the start of teaching Term: thus the first week is called "1st week" or "week 1" and the last is "Week 12" or "12th week". The first week of Trinity Term (which marks conclusion of lecturing for that year) is known as Trinity Week; normally preceded by a string of balls, it consists of a week of sporting and academic events. This includes the Trinity Ball and the Trinity Regatta (a premier social event on the Irish rowing calendar held since 1898), the election of Scholars and Fellows and a college banquet.


Second-level programmes

Since 2014, Trinity College's science department has established and operated a scheme for second-level students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The system, similar to DCU's CTYI programme, encourages academically gifted secondary students with a high aptitude for the
STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
subjects, and was named the Walton Club in honour of Ernest Walton, Ireland's first and only Nobel laureate in physics. The programme was centred upon a pedagogic principle of "developing capacity for learning autonomy". The educators in the programme are PhD students in the college, who impart an advanced, undergraduate-level curriculum to the students. The club was set up with a specific ethos around the mentoring of STEM subjects, and not as a grinds school. The scheme, now in its third year, has been immensely successful and undergone growth in scope and scale year on year. It has also diversified beyond its traditional weekly club structure, running camps during school holidays to offer an opportunity to study STEM to those unable to join the club. It has also represented the college in many activities, meeting
Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also se ...
and attending the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and the Web Summit. Students, or
alphas ''Alphas'' is an American superhero drama television series created by Zak Penn and Michael Karnow. It follows a group of people with superhuman abilities, known as "Alphas", as they work to prevent crimes committed by other Alphas. The series ...
as they are dubbed in honour of the eponymous physicist, develop projects in the Club, with innovations pioneered there including a health-focused electroencephalogram. The club was founded by Professors Igor Shvets and Arlene O'Neill of the School of Physics in Trinity College.


Undergraduate

Most undergraduate courses require four years of study. First-year students at the undergraduate level are called Junior Freshmen; second-years, Senior Freshmen; third-years, Junior Sophisters; and fourth-years, Senior Sophisters. After a 2017 proposal by the SU Equality Committee, the Trinity College Board approved a three-year process changing the titles of first and second years to Junior and Senior Fresh. Students must take the exams during Michaelmas term and during Trinity term of each year, and those who pass the exams can enter the next year. Students who score at least 70% on the exams will receive a first class honor degree, 60-69% an upper second class honor degree, 50-59% a lower second class honor degree, and 40-49% a third class honor degree. Most non-professional courses take a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. As a matter of tradition, bachelor's degree graduates are eligible, after seven years from matriculation and without additional study, to purchase for a fee an upgrade of their bachelor's degree to a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
. Degree titles vary according to the subject of study. The
Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
awards the LL.B., the LL.B. (ling. franc.) and the LL.B. (ling. germ.). Other degrees include the BAI (engineering) and BBS (business studies). The BSc degree is not in wide use although it is awarded by the School of Nursing and Midwifery; most science and computer science students are awarded a BA. From 2018, Trinity will be offering dual BA programme with
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in New York City. Students of history, English, European studies or Middle Eastern and European languages and culture spend their first two years at Trinity and their last two years at Columbia.


Postgraduate

At
postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...
level, Trinity offers a range of taught and research degrees in all faculties. About 29% of students are post-graduate level, with 1,440 reading for a research degree and an additional 3,260 on taught courses (see Research and Innovation). Trinity College's Strategic Plan sets "the objective of doubling the number of PhDs across all disciplines by 2013 in order to move towards a knowledge society. In order to achieve this, the college has received some of the largest allocations of Irish Government funding which have become competitively available to date." In addition to academic degrees, the college offers Postgraduate Diploma (non-degree) qualifications, either directly or through associated institutions.


Research

The university operates an innovation center that promotes academic innovation and advising, provides patent counseling and research information, and facilitates the creation and operation of industrial labs and campus businesses. In 1999, the university purchased an enterprise centre on Pearse Street, a seven-minute walk from the on-site "Innovation Center." The site has over 19,000 square meters of built space and includes a protected building, the Tower, which houses a Craft Centre. The Trinity Enterprise Centre is home to companies from Dublin's university research sector.


Admissions

Undergraduate applications from Irish, British and European Union applicants are submitted and processed through the Central Applications Office system. Trinity College instructs the CAO to administer all applications by standardised criteria before offering places to successful candidates. The College therefore has full control of admissions while ensuring anonymity and academic equality throughout the process. Admission to the university is highly competitive and based exclusively on academic merit. To be considered for admission, applicants must first reach the university's minimum matriculation requirements, which typically involves holding sufficient recognised qualifications in English, mathematics and a second language; the mathematics requirement can be waived if Latin is presented as a second language. Applicants for certain courses may be required to achieve more specific qualifications than those prescribed for minimum matriculation requirements. Eligible applicants must then compete for places based on the results of their school leaving examinations, but can additionally take matriculation examinations which are held in the university in April, in which each subject is considered equivalent to that of the Irish Leaving Certificate. Applications for restricted courses require further assessment considered in the admissions process, such as the Health Professions Admissions Test (HPAT) for medicine or entrance tests for music and drama courses. As applications for most courses far exceed available places, admission is highly selective, demanding excellent grades in the aforementioned examinations. Through the CAO, candidates may list several courses at Trinity College and at other third-level institutions in Ireland in order of preference. The CAO awards places in mid-August every year after matching the number of places available to the applicants' academic attainments. Qualifications are measured as "points", with specific scales for the Leaving Certificate, UK GCE
A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
, the
International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
and all other European Union school-leaving examinations. In 2016, there were 3,220 new entrants out of 18,469 CAO applicants. For applicants who are not citizens or residents of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, different procedures apply. Disadvantaged, disabled, or mature students can also be admitted through a program that is separate from the CAO, the Trinity Access Programme, which aims to facilitate the entry of sectors of society which would otherwise be under-represented. Students from non-European countries, such as the United States, may be admitted directly if they have passed the International Baccalaureate or EU/EFTA exams and meet the minimum admission requirements. Admission is not guaranteed and places will be filled in order of merit by the applicants with the highest score. For those who have not taken the above exams, there is the one-year Foundation Program. This includes essays, discussions, question and answer sessions and training in study to prepare students for admission to Trinity College. Students must demonstrate proficiency in English to be admitted to the Foundation Program and must have a minimum score on the IELTS, TOEFL or Duolingo English Test (DET). Requirements also vary depending on the program. In addition to English language proficiency, students must meet the high school score. Admission to graduate study is handled directly by Trinity College.


Awards


Entrance Exhibition and sizarship

Students who enter with exceptional
Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...
or other public examination results are awarded an Entrance Exhibition. This entails a prize in the form of book tokens to the value of €150.00. Exhibitioners who are of limited means are made Sizars, entitled to Commons (evening meal) free of charge.


Foundation Scholarship

Undergraduate students of Senior Freshmen standing may elect to sit the Foundation Scholarship examination, which takes place in the Christmas Vacation, on the last week before Hilary term. On Trinity Monday (the first day of Trinity Term), the Board of the college sits and elects to the Scholarship all those who achieve First in the examination. Election to become a scholar of Trinity Dublin is widely regarded as "the most prestigious undergraduate award in the country". Those from EU member countries are entitled to free rooms and Commons (the college's Formal Hall), an annual stipend and exemption from fees for the duration of their scholarship, which lasts 15 terms. Scholars from non-EU member countries have their fees reduced by the current value of EU member fees. Scholars may add the suffix "SCH." to their names, have the note "discip. schol." appended to their name at Commencements and are entitled to wear Bachelor's Robes and a velvet mortarboard. Competition for Scholarship involves a searching examination and successful candidates must be of exceptional ability. The concept of scholarship is a valued tradition of the college, and many of the college's most distinguished members were elected scholars (including Samuel Beckett and Ernest Walton). The Scholars' dinner, to which 'Scholars of the decade' (those elected in the current year, and every year multiple of a decade previous to it, e.g., 2013, 2003,..) are invited, forms one of the major events in Trinity's calendar. One of the main objectives is the pursuit of excellence, and one of the most tangible manifestations of this objective is the institution of the scholarship. Under the Foundation Charter (of 1592), Scholars were part of the body corporate (three Scholars were named in the charter "in the name of many"). Until 1609 there were about 51 Scholars at any one time. A figure of 70 was permanently fixed in the revising Letters Patent of Charles I in 1637. Trinity Monday was appointed as the day when all future elections to Fellowship and Scholarship would be announced (at this time Trinity Monday was always celebrated on the Monday after the feast of the
Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
). Up to this point, all undergraduates were Scholars, but soon after 1637 the practice of admitting students other than Scholars commenced. Until 1856, only the classical subjects were examined. The questions concerned all the classical authors prescribed for the entrance examination and for the undergraduate course up to the middle of the Junior Sophister year. So candidates had no new material to read, 'but they had to submit to a very searching examination on the fairly lengthy list of classical texts which they were supposed by this time to have mastered'. The close link with the undergraduate syllabus is underlined by the refusal until 1856 to admit Scholars to the Library (a request for admission was rejected by the Board in 1842 on the grounds that Scholars should stick to their prescribed books and not indulge in 'those desultory habits' that admission to an extensive library would encourage). During the second half of the 19th century, the content of the examination gradually came to include other disciplines. Around the turn of the 20th century, "Non-Foundation" Scholarships were introduced. This initially was a device to permit women to be, in effect, elected Scholars, despite the then commonly accepted legal view that the statute revision of 1637 permitted only males to be elected Foundation Scholars. Clearly, when women were not permitted in the college, this had not caused any difficulties, but with the admission of women as full members of the college, an anomaly was created. Non-Foundation Scholarship granted to the women elected to it all the rights of men, with the exception of voting rights at a meeting of the Body Corporate, a very rare event in any case. As women are now admitted to Foundation Scholarship on exactly the same basis as men, Non-Foundation Scholarships are retained as a device to allow for more than 70 persons to be Scholars at any one time provided they meet the qualifying standards. Foundation Scholarships are given to those whose performance is considered particularly exceptional, with the remaining qualifying persons that year being elected as Non-Foundation Scholars. While the number of Foundation Scholars remains fixed at 70, there is, in theory, no limit on the number of Non-Foundation Scholars. Non-Foundation and Foundation Scholars receive the same benefits and therefore the two groups are regarded in equal esteem and usually refer to themselves collectively as the Scholars of Trinity College Dublin.


Reputation

Trinity is ranked 98th in the world, 35th in Europe and 1st in Ireland in the Cuacarelli Simmons
QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...
2022, one of the world's leading indicators of university evaluation. The highest ranking was in 2009, when it was ranked 43rd in the world. It is also ranked 146th in the world and 1st in Ireland in the
Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarel ...
2022. In response to a long-term decline in rankings (from 43rd according to the last combined THE/QS ranking in 2009 to 88th in QS and 117th in THE for 2018), in 2014 Trinity announced a plan to reverse the trend, aiming to reenter the top 50. The dentistry program offered by the Dublin Dental University Hospital is ranked 51–75 in the world.


Student life


Societies

As of 2020, Trinity College has 120+ societies. Student societies operate under the aegis of the Dublin University Central Societies Committee (CSC). Situated in the Graduates Memorial Building (GMB) are the two debating societies:
University Philosophical Society The University Philosophical Society (UPS; ), commonly known as The Phil, is a student paper-reading and debating society in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1683 it is the oldest student, collegial and paper-reading society in t ...
(the Phil) and the
College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...
(the Hist). The Phil meets each Thursday evening in the
chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations *Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics *Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...
of the GMB, while the Hist meets each Wednesday evening. Both claim to be the oldest such student society: the Phil claims to have been founded in 1683, although university records list its foundation as having occurred in 1853, while the Hist was founded in 1770, making it the college's oldest society according to the Calendar. Among the Phil's Honorary Patrons are multiple
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
laureates, heads of state, notable actors, entertainers and well-known intellectuals, such as
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
,
Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...
, Sir Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, and John Mearsheimer. The Hist has been addressed by many notable orators, including
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
and
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
, and counts among its former members many prominent men and women in Ireland's history. Other societies include Vincent de Paul Society (VDP), which organises a large number of charitable activities in the local community; DU Players, theatre and drama societies which hosts more than 50 shows and events a year in the Players Theatre; The DU Film Society, founded in 1987, which organises filmmakers and cinephiles in college through workshops, screenings, production funding, etc.; Trinity FM, which broadcasts six weeks a year on FM 97.3 with various student productions; and the Q Soc - Trinity LGBT society, which is Ireland's oldest
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...
society and celebrated its 25th anniversary in the 2007/08 year. The Card and Bridge Society holds weekly poker and bridge tournaments and was the starting point for many notable alumni, including Andy Black, Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O'Dea; the Dublin University Comedy Society, known as DU Comedy, hosts comedy events for its members and has hosted gigs in college by comedians such as Andrew Maxwell, David O'Doherty, Neil Delamere and Colin Murphy; The Dance Society, known as "", provides classes in Latin and ballroom dancing, as well as running events around other styles, such as swing dancing. In 2011 the
Laurentian Society The Laurentian Society is a society of Trinity College Dublin, named after Saint Laurence O'Toole (Lorcán Ua Tuathail in Irish), and concerned with relevant issues from a Catholic perspective. It was the Catholic society of Trinity College, and ...
was revived. It had played a key role as a society for the few Catholic students who studied at Trinity while "the Ban" was still in force. The Trinity Fashion Society was established in 2009, and holds an annual charity fashion show and an international trip to London Fashion Week.


Clubs

Trinity has a sporting tradition, and the college has 50 sports clubs affiliated to the Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC). The Central Athletic Club is made up of five committees that oversee the development of sport in the college: the Executive Committee, which is responsible overall for all activities; the Captains' Committee, which represents the 49 club captains and awards University Colours (Pinks); the Pavilion Bar Committee, which runs the private members' bar; the Pavilion Members' Committee; and the Sports Facilities Committee. The oldest clubs include the
Dublin University Cricket Club Dublin University Cricket Club is a cricket team in Ireland. There is evidence of cricket being played at the University before 1820 but the first record of a club dates from 1835. They currently play in the Leinster Senior League, and in the ...
(1835) and the Dublin University Boat Club (1836). Dublin University Football Club, founded in 1854, plays
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
and is the world's oldest documented "football club". Dublin University A.F.C., founded in 1883, is the oldest surviving
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
. The Dublin University Hockey Club was founded in 1893, and the Dublin University Harriers and Athletic Club in 1885. The newest club in the university is the
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
team, who were accepted into the
Irish American Football League American Football Ireland (AFI) is the National Governing Body for American football for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in 1984 the AFI is entirely volunteer run and all American football played in Ireland is played at an amateur level. ...
(IAFL) in 2008. The Dublin University Fencing Club has won a total of 43 titles in 66 years. While the modern DU Fencing Club was founded in 1936, its origins can be dated to the 1700s when a 'Gentleman's Club of the Sword' existed, primarily for duelling practice.


Publications

Trinity College has a tradition of student publications, ranging from the serious to the satirical. Most student publications are administered by Trinity Publications, previously called the Dublin University Publications Committee (often known as 'Pubs'), which maintains and administers the Publications office (located in No 6) and all the associated equipment needed to publish newspapers and magazines. From 1869 to 1893 the literary magazine '' Kottabos'' was published, edited by Robert Yelverton Tyrrell. It has been called 'perhaps the cream of Irish academic wit and scholarship'. There are two rival student newspapers: '' The University Times'' and '' Trinity News''. ''The University Times'' is funded by the
Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to ...
and has won national and international awards since its inception in 2009, including the award for best non-daily student newspaper in the world from the US-based Society of Professional Journalists. ''Trinity News'' is Ireland's oldest student newspaper, launched in 1953. It publishes both an online edition and a print edition every three weeks during the academic year. For the last 10 years the paper has been edited by a full-time student editor, who takes a sabbatical year from their studies, supported by a voluntary part-time staff of 30 student section editors and writers. Student magazines currently in publication include the satirical newspaper ''
The Piranha ''The Piranha'' is the official satirical newspaper of Trinity College Dublin.http://www.trinitypublications.info/Our%20Publications.html Trinity Publications Formerly known as ''Piranha!'' magazine, it was rebranded in 2009. It is a member of ...
'' (formerly ''Piranha!'' magazine but rebranded in 2009), the generalist ''T.C.D. Miscellany'' (founded in 1895; one of Ireland's oldest magazines), the film journal ''Trinity Film Review'' (TFR) and the literary ''
Icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; grc, Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, King Minos sus ...
''. Other publications include the ''Student Economic Review'' and the Trinity College Law Review, produced independently by students of economics and law respectively; the ''Trinity College Journal of Postgraduate Research'', produced by the Graduate Students Union; the ''Social and Political Review'' (SPR); the ''Trinity Student Medical Journal''; and ''The Attic'', student writing produced by the ''Dublin University Literary Society.'' More recent publications include ''The Burkean Journal'', a politically and culturally conservative magazine named after one of Trinity's most notable alumni,
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
.


The Trinity Ball

The Trinity Ball is an annual event that draws 7,000 attendants. Until 2010, it was held annually on the last teaching day of Trinity term to celebrate the end of lectures and the beginning of Trinity Week. Due to a restructuring of the teaching terms of the college, the 2010 Ball was held on the last day of Trinity Week. In 2011, the ball was held on the final day of teaching of Hilary Term, before the commencement of Trinity Week. The Ball is run by Trinity Ents, Trinity Students' Union and Trinity's Central Societies Committee in conjunction with event promoters
MCD Productions MCD Productions is an Irish concert promotion company. Established in 1980, and headquartered in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. History The company was founded by Eamonn McCann and Denis Desmond, the company name MCD is made up of their in ...
, who held the contract to run the Ball until 2012. The Ball celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.


Students' Union

The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the university and college authorities. The Campaigns Executive, the Administrative Executive and Sabbatical Officers manage the business and affairs of the Union. The Sabbatical Officers are: The President, Communications Officer, Welfare Officer, Education Officer and Entertainments Officer and are elected on an annual basis; all capitated students are entitled to vote. The SU President, Welfare Officer and Education Officer are ex-officio members of the College Board. The Graduate Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between postgraduates and the university and college authorities. The GSU president is an ex-officio member of the College Board.


Traditions and culture


Commons

Commons is a three-course meal served in the College Dining Hall Monday to Friday, attended by Scholars, Fellows and Sizars of the college, as well as other members of the college community and their guests. Commons starts at 18:15 during the week, and its start is signalled by a dramatic slamming of the Dining Hall doors. The bell of the Campanile in the college is rung at 18:00 to inform those attending the dinner. A
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
Grace is said "before and after dinner", read by one of the scholars. During Advent, members of the Chapel Choir sing Christmas carols to accompany the meals.


Trinity Week

Trinity Week begins each year on Trinity Monday in mid-April. The start of Trinity Week is marked by the election of Fellows and Scholars to the College on Trinity Monday. The board of the college, having chosen the new Scholars (those who achieved a First in the Foundation Scholarship) and Fellows, announce in front square those appointed, before an ecumenical service is held in the College Chapel, with music sung by the Chapel Choir.


Other traditions

Trinity has a longstanding rivalry with nearby
University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
, which is largely friendly in nature. Every year, Colours events are contested between the sporting clubs of each University, as well as between their respective debating societies. Most students of the college (undergraduates especially) never walk underneath the
Campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...
, as the tradition suggests that should the bell ring whilst they pass under it, they will fail their annual examinations. This is negated only if they touch the foot of the statue of George Salmon within five seconds of the bell ringing.


In popular culture

Parts of ''
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and ...
'', '' The First Great Train Robbery'', '' Circle of Friends'', '' Educating Rita'', '' Ek Tha Tiger'' and '' Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx'' were filmed in Trinity College. It served as the filming location for
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
headquarters in '' The Blue Max''. The Irish writer J. P. Donleavy was a student in Trinity. A number of his books feature characters who attend Trinity, including '' The Ginger Man'' and '' The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B.'' Fictional Naval Surgeon Stephen Maturin of Patrick O'Brian's popular
Aubrey–Maturin series The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by English author Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centring on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the ...
is a graduate of Trinity College. In the Channel 4 television series '' Hollyoaks'', Craig Dean attends Trinity College. He left Hollyoaks to study in Ireland in 2007 and now lives there with his boyfriend, John Paul McQueen, after they got their sunset ending in September 2008.
Claire Kilroy Claire Kilroy (born 1973) is a contemporary Irish author. She was born, and currently resides, in Dublin, Ireland. Background Early life Born in Dublin in 1973, Claire Kilroy grew up in the scenic fishing village of Howth, north of the city. Edu ...
's novel ''All Names Have Been Changed'' is set in Trinity College in the 1990s. The story follows a group of creative writing students and their enigmatic professor. A photograph of Trinity is used in the cover art.
Barry McCrea Barry McCrea (born 15 October 1974) is an Irish writer and academic. He grew up in Dalkey, County Dublin, and was educated at the Jesuit Gonzaga College, and Trinity College, Dublin (1993–1997) where he studied French and Spanish literature. H ...
's novel ''The First Verse'' is set in Trinity College. The narrative focuses on freshman Niall Lenihan's search for identity and companionship and details his involvement with mysticism at the college. In Karen Marie Moning's ''The Fever Series'' Trinity College is said to be where the main character, MacKayla Lane's sister Alina, was attending school on scholarship before she was murdered. The college is also where several of the minor characters who inform Ms. Lane about her sister are said to work. In Cecelia Ahern's novel '' Thanks for the Memories'', Justin Hitchcock is a guest lecturer at Trinity College. The Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture in Dublin's
Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1752 by the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam and was largely complete by the beginning of the 19th century. The demand f ...
depicts Wilde wearing the Trinity College post graduate tie. In Sally Rooney's 2018 novel '' Normal People'' and its 2020
television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...
, the main characters, Connell Waldron and Marianne Sheridan, are students at Trinity College and are elected scholars. Rooney studied English as a scholar in Trinity. In the television adaptation, Connell is played by former Trinity College ( The Lir Academy) student Paul Mescal; two other actors in the series, Frank Blake (who plays Marianne's older brother Alan) and
Kwaku Fortune Kwaku Fortune is an Irish actor. Early life and education Fortune is from Roundwood, County Wicklow. He is of Ghanaian descent on his mother's side. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Acting from The Lir Academy at Trinity College Dubl ...
(who plays Philip, a friend of Marianne's at Trinity), are also alumni of the Lir Academy. Series director and executive producer Lenny Abrahamson studied philosophy at Trinity and was also elected a scholar. Following the broadcast of the series, Trinity was widely reported to have received a substantial increase in applications, to a total of over 40,000, including a small increase in applications from the United Kingdom. Abrahamson enjoyed filming at his alma mater: "it was nice to film Trinity as Trinity. Many films use it as a stand-in for another beautiful place."


Notable people

Amongst the past students/graduates (and some staff) are such notable figures as: *
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...
( Nobel Laureate in Literature) *
George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley ( Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...
* Daniel Bradley * Francis Brambell *
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
* J.B. Bury * William Campbell (
Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...
in Medicine) * Michael Coey * William Congreve * Daniel Condren * Thomas Davis * Henry Horatio Dixon *
Edward Dowden Edward Dowden (3 May 18434 April 1913) was an Irish critic, professor, and poet. Biography He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edinbur ...
*
Francis Ysidro Edgeworth Francis Ysidro Edgeworth (8 February 1845 – 13 February 1926) was an Anglo-Irish philosopher and political economist who made significant contributions to the methods of statistics during the 1880s. From 1891 onward, he was appointed th ...
* Robert Emmet * George Francis FitzGerald *
Gordon Foster Frederic Gordon Foster (24 February 1921 – 20 December 2010) was an Irish computational engineer, statistician, professor, and college dean who is widely known for devising, in 1965, a nine-digit code upon which the International Standard Boo ...
* Edward Francis Bani Forster * Percy French *
Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel '' The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem '' The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his ...
* Henry Grattan * Veronica Guerin *
William Rowan Hamilton Sir William Rowan Hamilton Doctor of Law, LL.D, Doctor of Civil Law, DCL, Royal Irish Academy, MRIA, Royal Astronomical Society#Fellow, FRAS (3/4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He was the ...
*
Edward Hincks Edward Hincks (19 August 1792 – 3 December 1866) was an Irish clergyman, best remembered as an Assyriologist and one of the decipherers of Mesopotamian cuneiform. He was one of the three men known as the "holy trinity of cuneiform", with S ...
* Michael Roberts Westropp * Nathaniel Hone the Younger *
Ludwig Hopf Ludwig Hopf (23 October 1884 in Nürnberg, Germany – 23 December 1939 in Dublin]) was a German-Jewish theoretical physicist who made contributions to mathematics, special relativity, hydrodynamics, and aerodynamics. Early in his career ...
* John Kells Ingram * Peter Lalor * John Hewitt Jellett * John Joly * Dionysius Lardner * Sheridan Le Fanu * Bartholomew Lloyd *
Humphrey Lloyd (physicist) Humphrey Lloyd FRS FRSE MRIA (1800–1881) was an Irish physicist. He was Erasmus Smith's Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin (1831-1843) and much later Provost (1867–1881). Lloyd is known for experim ...
* Thomas Ranken Lyle * James MacCullagh *
Mairead Maguire Mairead MaguireFairmichael, p. 28: "Mairead Corrigan, now Mairead Maguire, married her former brother-in-law, Jackie Maguire, and they have two children of their own as well as three by Jackie's previous marriage to Ann Maguire." (born 27 Januar ...
(
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...
) * Edmond Malone *
Charles Maturin Charles Robert Maturin, also known as C. R. Maturin (25 September 1780 – 30 October 1824), was an Irish Protestant clergyman (ordained in the Church of Ireland) and a writer of Gothic plays and novels.Chris Morgan, "Maturin, Charles R(obert ...
* Albert Joseph McConnell * George Francis Mitchell * Richard Maunsell * William Molyneux * Hans Motz * Charles Algernon Parsons * Thomas Preston * Louise Richardson * George Salmon * Brendan Scaife * Erwin Schrödinger * Samson Shatashvili *
Edward Stafford Edward Stafford may refer to: People *Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (1470–1498) *Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (1478–1521), executed for treason * Edward Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford (1535–1603) *Sir Edward Stafford (diplom ...
*
Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
*
George Johnstone Stoney George Johnstone Stoney FRS (15 February 1826 – 5 July 1911) was an Irish physicist. He is most famous for introducing the term ''electron'' as the "fundamental unit quantity of electricity". He had introduced the concept, though not the wor ...
*
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Du ...
*
James Joseph Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership ...
*
Edward Hutchinson Synge Edward Hutchinson Synge (1 June 1890 – 26 May 1957) was an Irish physicist who published a complete theoretical description of the near-field scanning optical microscope, an instrument used in nanotechnology, several decades before it was expe ...
*
John Lighton Synge John Lighton Synge (; 23 March 1897 – 30 March 1995) was an Irish mathematician and physicist, whose seven-decade career included significant periods in Ireland, Canada, and the USA. He was a prolific author and influential mentor, and is cre ...
*
John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play '' The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly ...
* John Trenchard *
Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...
* John Winthrop Hackett * Frederick Thomas Trouton * Jaja Wachuku * Ernest Walton ( Nobel Laureate in Physics) *
Denis Weaire Denis Lawrence Weaire FRS (born 17 October 1942 in Dalhousie, Simla, India) is an Irish physicist and an emeritus professor of Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Educated at the Belfast Royal Academy and Clare College, Cambridge, he held positions a ...
* E. T. Whittaker *
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
* Katie McGrath Others include four previous holders of the office of
President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...
, Douglas Hyde, Éamon de Valera, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, and two holders of the office of Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, and
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to D ...
. (De Valera matriculated as "Edward de Valera".)


See also

* Academic dress of the University of Dublin *
Dublin University (constituency) Dublin University is a university constituency in Ireland, which currently elects three senators to Seanad Éireann. Its electorate comprises the undergraduate scholars and graduates of the University of Dublin, whose sole constituent colleg ...
* Education in the Republic of Ireland * List of chancellors of the University of Dublin *
List of professorships at the University of Dublin This is a list of professorships, other notable positions, and public lectures at the University of Dublin. The chairs in French (1776), German (1776), Irish (1840), English Literature (1867) and the precursor (1776) of the current Chair of Span ...
* List of universities in the Republic of Ireland * Trinity Hall, Dublin


Notes


References


Further reading

* Aalen, F. H. A., and R. J. Hunter. “The Estate Maps of Trinity College: An Introduction and Annotated Catalogue.” ''Hermathena'', no. 98 (1964): 85–96
online
* Auchmuty, James Johnston. ''Sir Thomas Wyse, 1791-1862: the life and career of an educator and diplomat'' (PS King & sons, 1939). * Bailey, Kenneth Claude ''A History of Trinity College Dublin, 1892-1945'' (Trinity College Dublin, 1947) * Black, R. D. "Trinity College, Dublin, and the theory of value, 1832-1863." ''Economica'' 12.47 (1945): 140-14
online
* Bewley, Dame Beulah. "Ireland's first school of medicine" ''History Ireland'' 19.4 (2011): 24-2
online
* Dixon, William Macneile. ''Trinity College, Dublin.'' (F.E. Robinson, 1902
online
* Finn, Gerry P.T. "Trinity Mysteries: University, Elite Schooling and Sport in Ireland" ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' (2010) 27#13 pp 2255–2287. covers 1800 to 1970. * Fox, Peter. ''Trinity College Library Dublin: A History'' (Cambridge UP, 2014). * Gogarty, Claire. "Building Finances of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Early Eighteenth Century." ''Dublin Historical Record'' 50#1 (1997): 71-75
online
* Harford, Judith. ''The opening of university education to women in Ireland'' (Irish Academic Press, 2008). * Irish, Tomás. "Trinity College Dublin: An Imperial University in War and Revolution, 1914–1921." in ''The Academic World in the Era of the Great War'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) pp. 119–139. * Jackson, P. S. Wyse. "The botanic garden of Trinity college Dublin 1687 to 1987." ''Botanical journal of the Linnean Society'' 95.4 (1987): 301-311. * Kelly, Laura. ''Irish medical education and student culture, c. 1850-1950'' (Oxford UP, 2018). * Kirkpatrick, T. Percy C. ''History of the medical teaching in Trinity College Dublin and of the School of Physic in Ireland'' (Hanna and Neale, 1912
online
* Luce, John Victor, ed. ''Trinity College Dublin, the first 400 years'' (Trinity College Dublin quatercentenary series, 1992). * McDowell, Robert Brendan, and David Allardice Webb. ''Trinity College Dublin, 1592-1952: an academic history'' (Trinity College Dublin Press, 2004

* McGurk, John. "Trinity College, Dublin: 1592-1992." ''History Today'' 42.3 (1992): 41-47. * Mahaffy, John Pentland. ''An epoch in Irish history: Trinity College, Dublin, its foundation and early fortunes, 1591-1660'' (T. Fisher Unwin, 1906)
online
* Morris, Ewan. "'God Save the King' Versus 'The Soldier's Song': The 1929 Trinity College National Anthem Dispute and the Politics of the Irish Free State." ''Irish Historical Studies'' 31.121 (1998): 72-9
online
* Moss, Jean Dietz. "'Discordant Consensus': Old and New Rhetoric at Trinity College, Dublin." ''Rhetorica'' 14.4 (1996): 383-441. * O'Farrell, Fergus. "Trinity v. UCD." ''History Ireland'' 23.4 (2015): 48-4
online
student rivalry. * Parkes, Susan M., ed. ''A danger to the men?: a history of women in Trinity College Dublin 1904-2004'' (Lilliput Press, 2004). * Pašeta, Senia. "Trinity College, Dublin, and the Education of Irish Catholics, 1873-1908." ''Studia Hibernica'' 30 (1998): 7-2
online
* Post, Robert M. "Forensic activities at Trinity college, Dublin, in the eighteenth century." ''Communication Studies'' 19.1 (1968): 19-25. * Raraty, M. M. "The Chair of German at Trinity College, Dublin 1775-1866." ''Hermathena'' (1966): 53-7
online
* Rembert, James A. W. "Dialectic at Trinity College, Dublin." in ''Swift and the Dialectical Tradition'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1988) pp. 63–72
online
* Stanford, William Bedell. "Classical Studies in Trinity College, Dublin, since the Foundation." ''Hermathena'' 57 (1941): 3-24
online
* Urwick, William. ''The Early History of Trinity College Dublin 1591-1660: As Told in Contemporary Records on Occasion of Its Tercentenary'' (T. Fisher Unwin Paternoster Square, 1892
online
* Ussher, H. "Account of the Observatory Belonging to Trinity College, Dublin." ''Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy'' 1 (1787): 3-21
online
* Walsh, John. "‘The problem of Trinity College Dublin’: a historical perspective on rationalisation in higher education in Ireland." ''Irish Educational Studies'' 33.1 (2014): 5-19. * Webb, David A. "The herbarium of Trinity College, Dublin: its history and contents." ''Botanical journal of the Linnean Society'' 106.4 (1991): 295-327. * West, Trevor. ''The bold collegians: the development of sport in Trinity College, Dublin'' (Lilliput Press in association with DUCAC, 1991).


External links


Official website
*
Photo gallery of Trinity College
*
Trinity College official history



Satellite Photo of Trinity College



Satellite Photo of Trinity Hall

Scarves of the University of Dublin

The Trinity Ball

''Trinity News''

Trinity College Central Societies Committee

Trinity College Dublin Students' Union


{{Authority control 1592 establishments in Ireland Anglican schools in the Republic of Ireland Archives in the Republic of Ireland Educational institutions established in the 1590s Education in Dublin (city) University of Dublin Constituent colleges