Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I, is Ireland's oldest university and the only constituent college of the University of Dublin. It is located on College Green in Dublin, opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament, now Bank of Ireland headquarters. The campus occupies 47 acres, with many attractive buildings, both old and new, centered around large courts and two playing fields. Trinity has approximately 11,000 undergraduates, 3,500 postgraduates and 1,700 staff (academic year 2000/2001 figures).

Table of contents

1 History

1.1 Location
1.2 Mergers

2 Academic
3 Governance
4 The Library
5 Notable Alumni
6 See also
7 External Links

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, incidentially Trinity was modelled on them), though until well into the twentieth century they had to obtain the permission of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin to take up a place if they wished to avoid excommunication. In 1873 all religious tests were abolished, except for Divinity. Women were admitted to Trinity College for the first time in 1904. The first woman professor was appointed in 1934.

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.

Mergers

University College Dublin considers itself a rival of Trinity, though the feeling has not always been reciprocated. Indeed in the late 1960s there was a proposal for University College Dublin to become the second constituent college of the University of Dublin. This plan, suggested by Brian Lenihan and Donagh O'Malley, was dropped after mass opposition by Trinity Students. For many years Dublin Institute of Technology had its degrees conferred by the University of Dublin and a merger was considered. However, it is generally agreed that a merger with either of the institutions would have overwhelmed Trinity.

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

Academic

Typically an undergraduates is awarded a Bachelor in Arts after three years study before an additional year to be awarded an honours degree in their choosen subject. As is typical in Ireland an honours degree takes one year more than most universities in the UK. 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 English university model.

The six faculties of the university:

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

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 Library of Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland. 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. It is also believed that the Jedi Archives in was inspired by the Long Room[1].