Established 1592 by Elizabeth I Provost John Hegarty Faculty 678 Students 15,000 Location Dublin, Republic of Ireland Address College Green Dublin 2 Telephone +353-1-896-1000 Affiliations DU, Coimbra Group, AMBA
Trinity College, Dublin, corporately designated as the Provost,
Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of
Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I,
and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin,
Ireland's oldest university. Trinity is located on College Green
opposite the former Irish Houses of Parliament (now a branch of the Bank
of Ireland). The campus occupies 47 acres (190,000 m²), with many
attractive buildings, both old and new, centred around large courts and
two playing fields.
The college and university are effectively one, and as such are
often referred to collectively as the University of Dublin, Trinity
College. 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.
Location and facilities
At the main entrance of Trinity College there are statues of
Edmund Burke and Oliver Goldsmith, both graduates of the college.Trinity
retains a strong campus atmosphere despite its location in the urban
centre of a capital city. 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. The main campus island is approximately 47
acres, including the Trinity College Enterprise Centre. There is in
excess of 200,000 m² of buildings, including beautiful historic
architecture and state-of-the-art modern facilities.
In addition to the 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
Children's Hospital, Tallaght. The Trinity Centre in St James's Hospital
has recently been completed and incorporates additional teaching rooms
as well as the Institute of Molecular Medicine and John Durkan Leukaemia
Institute.
Student numbers increased dramatically during the 1980s and
1990s, with total enrolment more than doubling in size, and leading to
pressure on resources. Many students are housed on campus, or in Trinity
Hall on Dartry Road in Rathmines, four kilometres to the south of the
city campus, but large numbers secure accommodation external to the
university. Foreign and exchange students are given priority when campus
and Trinity Hall places are allocated. Trinity Hall houses one thousand
students, of whom the majority are first years. Postgraduates,
international students and other continuing students also have rooms
there.
History
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).Trinity was founded by a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth
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.[1]
Trinity is today in the very centre of Dublin, as the city has moved
eastwards. Trinity's campus contains many buildings of architectural
merit, especially from the 18th and 19th centuries. These include the
Chapel and Examination Hall designed by Sir William Chambers and the
Museum Building designed by the Irish architects Thomas Newenham Deane
and Benjamin Woodward.
During its early life, Trinity was a university exclusively for
the Protestant Ascendancy 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 the Divinity School.
However, it was not until 1970 that the Catholic Church, through the
Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid, lifted its policy of
excommunication for Catholics who enrolled without special dispensation,
at the same time as the Trinity authorities allowed a Roman Catholic
chaplain to be based in the college.[1] Trinity College, Dublin is a
sister college to Oriel College, University of Oxford and St John's
College, University of Cambridge.
Women were admitted to Trinity as full members for the first time
in 1904, thus making it the first ancient university in Ireland or
Britain to do so. The first female professor was appointed in 1934.
Proposed mergers Trinity has been subject to several proposed mergers.
One of the first proposals was in 1907 when the Chief Secretary for
Ireland proposed the reconstitution of the University of Dublin. Dublin
University Defence Committee was created and was successful in
preventing any change to the status quo. Additionally the Catholic
bishops' rejection of this idea ensured its failure among the Catholic
population. Chief among the concerns of the bishops was the remains of
the Catholic University of Ireland which would become subsumed into a
new university which on account of Trinity would be part Anglican.
Ultimately this episode led to the creation of the National University
of Ireland.
In the late 1960s, there was a proposal for University College,
Dublin 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 Donagh O'Malley, was dropped after mass
opposition by Trinity students.
From 1975, the colleges that now form Dublin Institute of
Technology had their degrees conferred by the University of Dublin. This
arrangement was discontinued in 1998.
Academic
Parliament Square, Trinity College, Dublin.The Trinity academic
year is divided into three terms in the same manner as the University of
Oxford — Michaelmas term (October, November and December), Hilary term
(January, February, March) and Trinity term (March, April, May). First
year students are called Junior Freshmen; second years, Senior Freshmen;
third years, Junior Sophisters and fourth years, Senior Sophisters.
Trinity's five faculties are as follows:
Arts and Humanities Social and Human Sciences Engineering and Systems Sciences Health Sciences Natural Sciences
Status Trinity College, Dublin is consistently the highest
ranked university in Ireland on world-wide metrics.
The global rankings published by the Times Higher Education
Supplement placed the college at 78 out of a total 200 universities
reviewed [2]. The same study ranked Trinity's arts and humanities
faculty 39th internationally [3]. The university failed to place among
the top 200 universities in scientific research according to rankings
compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University [4].
Trinity's MBA programme is ranked among the top 100 globally by
the Financial Times and among the top 10 for international mobility of
graduates and value for money [5].
Since the 1990s, Trinity has started to invest heavily in
scientific research with funding particularly from public sources. Some
scholars claim that the strong reputation of the university is poorly
served by its relatively low research funding in comparison to that of
other internationally rated institutions .
Undergraduate Students at the undergraduate level are usually awarded
an honours Bachelor of Arts degree after four years, but in exceptional
cases or in some professional subjects such as medicine may receive an
ordinary BA after three years' study. Bachelors who have had their
degrees for at least three years may pay a nominal fee (of €543) to have
the Master in Arts degree conferred on them, as at Oxbridge.[2] The
four-year degree is closer to the Scottish model than the English, and
is unusual among Irish universities; most 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 limited range of courses outside of their
major field of study under a 'broad curriculum' policy. The Law School
awards the LL.B., the LL.B. (ling. franc.) and the LL.B. (ling. germ.).
Other degrees include the BAI (engineering), B.Sc.(Pharm) (pharmacy) and
BBS (business studies). The BSc degree is not in wide use; most science
and computer science students are awarded a BA.
Postgraduate At postgraduate level, Trinity offers a range of taught
and research degrees in all faculties. The multidisciplinary Irish
School of Ecumenics provides further opportunities for postgraduate
students beyond the major faculties and is a graduate institute focusing
on applied research uniting politics, theology, and religion. See below
for a full list of research institutes and centres
In addition to academic degrees, the college offers Postgraduate
Diploma non-degree qualifications.
Admission Irish school-leavers apply for places under the CAO
points system, under which students compete for university places on the
basis of the points score awarded for their Leaving Certificate results.
Some students are admitted through the Trinity Access Programme which
aims to facilitate the entry of sectors of society which would otherwise
be under-represented. The admissions office also has procedures for
considering mature and international students' applications. There is
high demand for many Trinity courses, so competition can be strong.
Trinity also has formal procedures for admitting applicants on
the basis of UK GCE A-level results, which is an important route for
entry for students from Northern Ireland.
Awards Students who enter with exceptional Leaving Certificate
or other public examination results are awarded an Entrance Exhibition,
which entails a prize in the form of book tokens to the value of €254,
issued in two equal instalments in each of the Freshman years. [6]
Undergraduate students of any year, usually Senior Freshmen, may
elect to sit the Foundation Scholarship examination, which takes place
in the break between Hilary and Trinity terms. Foundation scholars are
part of the body corporate, and all scholars from EU member countries
are entitled to free rooms, commons and fees for the duration of their
scholarship, which can last up to five years. Foundation scholars from
non-EU member countries have their fees reduced to EU student levels.
The Library
The Old LibraryThe Library of Trinity College is the largest
research library in Ireland. As a result of its historic standing,
Trinity is a legal deposit library 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 4.25 million books,
including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of
manuscripts, maps, and printed music. Six libraries are available for
general student use.
The €27 million James Ussher Library, opened officially by the
President of Ireland in April 2003, is the newest addition to Trinity's
library facilities. The eight storey 9,500 m² building provides 750 new
reader spaces and houses the Glucksman Map Library and Conservation
Department.
The Book of Kells is by far the Library's most famous book and is
located in the Old Library. Together with the Long Room, the Old Library
is one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions. Though the Book of
Kells has been exhibited in other locations, damage caused on a loan in
2000 to an Australian institution has led to a policy of never allowing
the book to leave Trinity again.
Trivia It was widely reported that the appearance of the Jedi
Archives in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was inspired by
the Long Room due to the close resemblance between the two. Trinity
considered legal action but the matter was not pursued.[7]
Student activities
Clubs
Dublin University Boat Club racing on the river LiffeyTrinity
College has 49 sports clubs affiliated to the Dublin University Central
Athletic Club. There is a very strong sporting tradition at Trinity;
however, in recent years sporting prowess has diminished somewhat with
most students engaging in sport for recreational purposes rather than
for competitive reasons.
The Central Athletic Club is made up of five democratically
elected committees who oversee the development of sport in the college:
the Executive Committee is responsible for all activities; the Captains'
Committee represents the 49 club captains and awards University Colours
(Pinks), the Pavilion Bar Committee runs the private members' bar, the
Pavilion Members' Committee and the Sports Facilities Committee.
The oldest clubs include the Dublin University Cricket Club
(1835) and Dublin University Boat Club (1836). Dublin University
Football Club which plays rugby football was founded in 1854 and is the
world's oldest documented "football club". The Dublin University Hockey
Club was founded in 1893. The Dublin University Harriers and Athletic
Club was founded in 1895.
There are several graduate sport clubs that exist separate to the
Central Athletic Club including the Dublin University Museum Players
(cricket), the Lady Elizabeth Boat Club (rowing) and the Mary Lyons
Memorial Mallets (croquet).
Publications Trinity College, Dublin has a very strong tradition of
student publications, ranging from the serious to the satirical. Many
student publications are administered by the Dublin University
Publications Committee (often known as 'Pubs') who maintain and
administer the Publications room (located in House 6) and all the
associated equipment needed to publish its newspapers and magazines.
Trinity News, which won the Newspaper of the Year Award at the
National Student Media Awards in April 2005, is Ireland's oldest student
newspaper having been in circulation since 1947, and is currently
published on a fortnightly basis. Sections include News, National
Review, International Review, Features, Film, Music, Food and Drink, SU
& Societies, Gaeilge, Science, Sports Features and Sports (amongst
others). The paper received a record 15 shortlistings for the 2006
Student Media Awards held on 26 April 2006, winning five.
Magazines currently in publication include Piranha! ("Private
Eye" type satire), the generalist Miscellany (one of Ireland's oldest
magazines), and the arts-orientated Icarus. Other active publications
include the Student Economic Review, which is a journal produced and
organised independently by students of Economics, the Law Review and the
Trinity Student Medical Journal. Some older titles currently not in
publication include Central Review, Trinity Intellectual Times, Harlot,
Evoke, and Alternate.
Societies
The Graduates memorial buildingTrinity College has a vibrant
student life with 101 societies. Student societies operate under the
aegis of the Dublin University Central Societies Committee which is
composed of the Treasurers of each of the Societies within the College.
Society size varies enormously, large societies having in the region of
2000 members. Society size tends to vary and it is often hard to
determine exact figures for most societies - several claiming to be the
largest in the college with thousands of members, while smaller groups
may have only 40-50 members. The larger Societies include: the
paper-reading society situated in the Graduates' Memorial Building
(GMB): the University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin),
more commonly known as "The Phil"; and the debating society that shares
the building: the College Historical Society, more commonly known as
"The Hist"; the Vincent de Paul society, which organises a large number
of activities in the local community; and Dublin University Players
which is one of the most prolific drama societies in Ireland, hosting up
to 50 shows and events a year in its own theatre in the Samuel Beckett
Centre. Famous ex-members of Players include the actress and writer
Pauline McLynn (Mrs Doyle from Father Ted, and Ian Laurence Byrne esq
and Sir Patrick McKeating.
TCD also has a Radio Society known as Trinity FM. It broadcasts
from House 6 and offers a variety in student made productions on FM
frequency 97.3FM for six weeks a year.
The Students' Union The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a
recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the
University and College authorities. The Executive, the Finance and
Services Committee and Sabbatical Officers manage the business and
affairs of the Union. The Sabbatical Officers are: The President, Deputy
President/Publicity & Publications 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.
A rival on-campus student newspaper, the University Record, which
exists separate of the Publications Committee, is published every three
weeks by the Students' Union. The University Record, whilst independent
of Pubs, is the voice of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union and
is edited by the Deputy President of the Union. Many of the contributors
are drawn from the ranks of class reps.
The Graduate Students' Union 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. The Graduate Students' Union
publish the "Journal of Postgraduate Research" on an annual basis.
Trinity Ball The Trinity Ball is Europe’s largest private music
party, annually drawing over 6,000 party-goers[8]. The ball marks the
beginning of the Trinity Week celebrations in May, but has gradually
grown to eclipse it. It is one of the few great traditions that still
form a highlight of Dublin’s social calendar. The Ball is steeped in
history and has always had a degree of exclusivity about it. The Trinity
Ball 2006 was the 47th Annual Ball.
Academic associations
The Pomodoro sculpture in front of the Berkeley libraryTwo
teaching hospitals are associated with the college:
Adelaide & Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children's
Hospital, Tallaght St. James's Hospital, Dublin A number of teaching institutions are involved in jointly taught
courses:
St Catherine's College of Education for Home Economics, Blackrock
Coláiste Mhuire, Marino Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines
Church of Ireland Theological College, Braemor Park
Froebel College of Education, Blackrock 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 has also been associated in the past with a number of
other teaching institutions. These include Dublin Institute of
Technology, Magee College and Royal Irish Academy of Music.
The Douglas Hyde Gallery, a contemporary art gallery, is located
on the main college campus.
Governance The University is headed, titularly, by the Chancellor,
currently former Irish president and former 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 Body Corporate of the College is still headed by the Provost,
Fellows and Scholars. The Provost is elected primarily by fellow
academic staff, but students' votes have a small weighting. Election to
Fellowship and Scholarship is given to academic staff and undergraduates
respectively. Fellowship is awarded to academic staff who are seen to
have excelled in their field of research. The Foundation Scholarships
(informally known as schols) are awarded to students who get a first
class honours grade in the Scholarship examinations held annually at the
end of Hilary term. Upon election to Scholarship (usually in their
Senior Freshman or second year), Scholars are awarded a wide range of
entitlements, including an annual salary, free accommodation on-campus,
a meal every weekday at the traditional Commons dinner and exemption
from the annual examinations at the end of their second year.
The governance of Trinity was changed in 2000, by the Oireachtas,
in legislation 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 fellows, non-fellow academic staff and non-academic staff are
elected to serve for a fixed term; the most recent elections took place
in 2005 for three- and five-year terms, as a transitional step to more
regular terms. The four student members are the President, Education
Officer and Welfare Officer of the Students' Union and the president of
the Graduate Students' Union (all ex officio) and are elected annually
for one-year terms. The vice-provost, senior lecturer, registrar and
bursar are 'annual officers' appointed for one-year (renewable) terms by
the Provost.
Parliamentary representation Continuing the United Kingdom tradition (since
abandoned) of according seats in the British House of Commons to
representatives of the longer-established universities, graduates of the
University of Dublin (including Foundation Scholars of Trinity College)
and the National University of Ireland each elect three members of
Seanad Éireann, the Irish Senate. Terms are served until a new general
election is called by the dissolution of Dáil Éireann.
The three serving Trinity Senators are medical doctor Mary Henry,
Joycean scholar David Norris, and journalist Shane Ross. Dr Henry has
announced her retirement at the next election (anticipated in
July/August 2007). Past Trinity Senators have included the present
University Chancellor Mary Robinson. Notable British House of Commons
representatives have included the then Sir Edward Carson.
Research and innovation
The recently built Lloyd institute, used by computer science,
neuroscience, the Trinity Centre for High Performance Computing, physics
and statistics.Trinity College is the most productive internationally
recognised research centre in Ireland. The University operates an
Innovation Centre which fosters academic innovation and consultancy,
provides patenting advice and research information and facilitates the
establishment and operation of industrial laboratories and campus
companies.
In 1999 the University purchased an Enterprise Centre on Pearse
Street, seven minutes walk from the on-campus Innovation Centre. The
site has over 200,000 square feet (19,000 m²) of built space and
contains a protected building, the Tower, which currently houses a Craft
Centre. The Trinity Enterprise Centre will house companies drawn from
the University research sector in Dublin.
Multi-disciplinary research Ageing Consortium Centre for Computing and Language Studies Centre for Deaf Studies Centre for Gender and Women's Studies Centre for Irish-Scottish Studies Centre for Health Informatics (CHI) CRANN, Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and
Nanodevices CRITE, Centre for Research in I.T. in Education
Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain Research
Children's Research Centre Employment Research Centre High Performance Computing Centre The Institute for Information Technology and Advanced Computing
Institute for International Integration Studies
Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group The Policy Institute The Sami Nasr Institute for Advanced Materials
Trinity Centre for Bio-Engineering Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN)
Programmes in advanced technology Biotechnology - National Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Centre Metals Research - Materials Ireland Polymers Research - Materials Ireland Optronics - Optronics Ireland
Current and former campus companies Authentik - Language Learning Resources
Broadcom - Telecommunications Research Company
Commencements Ltd - Management consulting Cellix - Microfluidic instrumentation suppliers to
pharmaceutical, biotech and academic research laboratories
Eblana Photonics - Photonics component developer of
optoelectronic technologies Eneclann - Irish Genealogical Research Services
EUnet - Internet solutions Havok - developer of middleware for the video game industry,
creators of the Havok physics engine Identigen - Provision of DNA testing services for traceability of
food Industrial Training Services Ltd - Training and Services for the
IT industry Insight - Data Analysis Statistical Consultancy
Institute of European Food Studies Iona Technologies - Software Irish Centre for European Law Nutriscan Ltd - Human Nutrition Research and Consultancy Services
Reminiscene - Stock Market Analysis and Stock Trading
Scientific Resources Ltd - Quality Assurance for the food,
agriculture and pharmaceutical industries Simtherg - Engineering consultancy and simulation software
development Tolsys - Specialised hardware and software design in the area of
fault-tolerant computers X-Communications - Multimedia research and development company
References ^ History of Trinity College: Laying the Foundations
^ College Calendar, Degrees and Diplomas, I:E4:§4