The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the ''Queen's Colleges'' of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Cork, and

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

that were established in 1845 "to afford a university education to members of all religious denominations" in Ireland. The university system itself was replaced by the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

in 1880, which in turn was replaced by Queen's University Belfast, with the Cork and Galway colleges forming the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

, along with

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. The three Queen's colleges are currently known as: *

University of Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

Establishment

The Queen's Colleges (Ireland) Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. 66) (''An Act to enable Her Majesty to endow new Colleges for the Advancement of Learning in Ireland'') established the colleges with the intention that they would provide for

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

requests for university education, since Catholics did not generally attend

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

at that time (though there were no legal restrictions preventing them from doing so). Nevertheless, at the prompting of Protestant interests, the Queen's Colleges were not permitted to give instruction in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. Thus, the Queen's Colleges became derided as the "godless colleges" —

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

even ventured as far as declaring them to be "detrimental to religion" in an official condemnation. This non-acceptance was articulated in the creation of a rival to the Queen's Colleges — the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ) was a private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its assoc ...

in Dublin. In 1845 the

Mayor of Limerick The Mayor of Limerick is the head of the local government of the Limerick, City and County Limerick, County of Limerick. It is a directly elected office with a five-year term. Following the 2024 Limerick mayoral election, John Moran (Mayor of Li ...

applied to have a Queen's College located in the city; however Cork, Galway and Belfast were chosen. The colleges were incorporated on 30 December 1845; and on 30 October 1849 they opened for students.UCC, 2006
"UCC History"
Retrieved 1 September 2006. A ''Board of Queen's Colleges'' was created to draw up regulations for the colleges, consisting of the President and Vice-President of each college.

Academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

s were conferred by the

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

senate 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 ...

of the university with a status similar to those of other universities of the former

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

. In 1866 the university considered examining and conferring degrees on students other than those of the Queen's colleges, such as the Catholic Carlow College the ''St. Patricks College Carlow Report''St. Patricks College Carlow Report, 1866 Introduction: Printed by T. Price, 55 Dublin St.
/ref> was conducted and the college was deemed to meet the suitable, however it was never enacted.''Paul Cardinal Cullen and the shaping of modern Irish Catholicism'' By Desmond Bowen The Queen's College at Belfast became predominantly

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, unlike the colleges at Cork and Galway. A number of significant figures in Irish public life participated in the governing senate of the university such as Sir Dominic Corrigan (Vice-Chancellor). Naturalist Robert Ball became secretary of Queen's University of Ireland in 1851. Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon served on the senate of the university.

Dissolution

The Queen's University was superseded by a new, inclusive, degree-awarding institution, the

in 1880. The Queen's University was formally dissolved on 3 February 1882. Immediately on incorporation, the Royal University broke with the ''“godless"'' convention, by setting examinations for, and awarding degrees to students of colleges with a religious heritage, notably Magee Presbyterian College, and the

(that included St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and

.)''History of Magee College'' a
UU Library website
. Retrieved on 28 August 2006.O'Donnell, Patrick, 1912. "Catholic University of Ireland". The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV, fro

Retrieved on 1 September 2006. The Belfast college was separated from the other two in 1908, and became

The Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is St ...

(QUB).QUB, 2006
"History of Queen's"
Retrieved on 1 September 2006. Queen's College, Cork is now

(UCC), while Queen's College Galway is now the

. Since 1908 the last two have been part of the federal

system.

Arms

References

External links

Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to inquire into the progress and condition of the Queen's Colleges at Belfast, Cork and Galway
(1858)
Annual Reports on Condition and Progress of Queen's University, Ireland, 1851–1882
{{Coord missing, County Galway Defunct universities and colleges in Ireland Universities and colleges established in 1850 University of Galway Queen's University Belfast University College Cork