Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin
Seal of University
Data
Established	1592 by Elizabeth I
Location	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Enrolment	15,000 (3,800 postgrad)
Alumni	65,000
Provost	John Hegarty
Chancellor	Mary Robinson
Address	College Green Dublin 2 Ireland
Phone	+353-1-6081000
Homepage	http://www.tcd.ie
Member of	Coimbra Group, EUA
Map
File:CoDublinCity.png Dublin in Ireland

Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I, is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Ireland's oldest university - the college and university are often referred to collectively as the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Trinity is located on College Green in Dublin, opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament, now known as the Bank of Ireland, being a branch of the bank of that name. The campus occupies 47 acres (190,000 m²), with many attractive buildings, both old and new, centered around large courts and two playing fields.

For all intents and purposes the college and university are essentially one. The main exception to this is the conferring of degrees; the college provides all the programmes and academic staff are members of it, but the university confers the degree.

History

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin was founded by Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. The Corporation of Dublin granted the new university the lands of All Hallows monastery, a mile to the south east of the city walls. Trinity College is today in the very centre of Dublin, as the city has moved eastwards.

During its early life, Trinity was a university exclusively for the Protestant ascendency class of Dublin. Following the first steps of Catholic Emancipation, Roman Catholics were first admitted in 1793 (prior to Cambridge and Oxford, upon which Trinity was modelled). In 1873 all religious tests were abolished, except for Divinity. The Roman Catholic Church had a policy until 1970 under the Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid of excommunication for Catholics who took a place, although they could receive a special dispensation. Women were admitted to Trinity College for the first time in 1904. The first woman professor was appointed in 1934.

Do not confuse Trinity College with the University College Dublin of the National University of Ireland founded in 1854. Both of them were established by Royal Charter and gained global ranking in Financial Times etc.

Location

Trinity is an unusual university as it is centered in a capital city, but still retains a strong campus atmosphere. This is in large part due to the compact design of the campus: the main buildings look inwards, and there are a small number of public gates. Student numbers increased during the 1980s and 1990s, with total enrolment more than doubling in size, and leading to pressure on resources. Students can be housed either on campus, or in Dartry four kilometers to the south of the city campus mostly for first years.

In addition to the superb city centre campus, Trinity also incorporates the Faculty of Health Sciences buildings located in St. James's Teaching Hospital and the Adelaide and Meath incorporating the National Childrens Hospital, Tallaght (AMNCH). Phases 2 and 3 of the Trinity Centre in St James's Hospital have been recently completed and incorporate additional teaching rooms as well as the Institute of Molecular Medicine and John Durkan Leukaemia Institute.

A recent addition to the architectural uniqueness of Trinity College Dublin is the new School of Nursing and Midwifery on D'Olier Street. This building, the former Bord Gais headquarters, combines mock tudor and art deco styles in a unique combination.

Mergers

In the late 1960s there was a proposal for University College Dublin to become the second constituent college of a newly reconstituted "University of Dublin". This plan, suggested by Brian Lenihan and Donagh O'Malley, was dropped after mass opposition by Trinity students.

Since 1975 the colleges which now form Dublin Institute of Technology had their degrees conferred by the University of Dublin, this situation continued until 1998 and a merger was considered by the institute, but never seriously by the university.

However, it is generally agreed that a merger with either of the institutions would have overwhelmed Trinity itself.

A more detailed history: History of Trinity College (Trinity Website).

Academic

File:TCD.jpg

Trinity College, Dublin

Typically an undergraduate is awarded an ordinary Bachelor in Arts after three years study before an additional year to be awarded an honours bachelor degree in their chosen specialism, thus requiring a total of four years study. Furthermore, bachelors who have had their degrees for at least three years may pay a nominal fee to have the Master in Arts degree conferred on them. This is closer to the Scottish model than the English; most other Irish universities award Bachelor of Arts after three years of study, though other bachelor degrees such as dentistry, engineering, medicine or science usually take longer. In recent years, students have been offered a broader range of courses, outside of their major field of study. As a result, the pedagogy has moved a little closer to the North American than the British university model. In addition to academic degrees the college offers the Postgraduate Diploma.

Trinity's six faculties:

• Arts (Humanities)
• Arts (Letters)
• Business, Economic & Social Studies
• Engineering & Systems Sciences
• Health Sciences
• Science

These faculties will probably change in the coming year with restructuring.

Governance

The University is headed, titularly, by the Chancellor, currently former Irish president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. The College is headed by the Provost, currently John Hegarty. The college is officially incorporated as The Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin

The governance of Trinity was changed in 2000, by the Irish Government, in a bill introduced by the Board of Trinity: The Trinity College, Dublin (Charters and Letters Patent Amendment) Act, 2000. This was introduced separately from the Universities Act 1997. This states that the Board shall comprise:

• The Provost, Vice-Provost, 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 being an employee or student of the College chosen by a committee of the Board which shall comprise the Provost and two members of the Board from among nominations made by such organisations as are representative of such business or professional interest as the Board considers appropriate;
• One member appointed by the Board on the nomination of the Minister for Education and Science following consultation with the Provost.

The Library

The Book of Kells is the most famous of the volumes in the Trinity College Library. Shown here is the Madonna and Child from Kells (folio 7v).

The Library of Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland. As a deposit library, it is entitled legally to a copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland, and contains 4.25 million books. The Book of Kells, the Library's most famous book can be seen in the Long Room of the old Library. There are 5 libraries for general student use: the Berkeley, the Ussher, the Lecky, the Hamilton and the John Stearne located in St. James's Teaching Hospital. In addition, there is another library in AMNCH, Tallaght Teaching Hospital which students may use.

It is also believed that the Jedi Archives in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was inspired by the Long Room[1]. There are reports that Trinity is considering legal action (note that the left image is NOT from the film as is implied).

Notable Societies

Trinity College has a vibrant student life with over 90 societies and 40 sports clubs, most prominently the the University Philosophical Society (founded 1684), more commonly known as The Phil.

Notable Alumni

• Samuel Beckett, Nobel Prize winner
• George Berkeley
• Edmund Burke
• Denis Burkitt
• J. B. Bury
• Edward Carson
• George Francis FitzGerald
• Oliver Goldsmith
• Henry Grattan
• William Rowan Hamilton
• William Edward Hartpole Lecky
• George Macartney
• Sir John MacNeill
• Mary Robinson
• William Stokes
• Bram Stoker
• Jonathan Swift
• Bishop James Ussher
• Ernest Walton, Nobel prize-winner
• Oscar Wilde
• Theobald Wolfe Tone
• Percy French
• Robert Emmet

See also

• Education in Ireland
• List of Irish Universities

External Links

• Trinity College Dublin - official site
• Photogallery of Trinity College