TRINITY COLLEGE

Located right in the heart of the city, Trinity College is an institution you'd be remiss not to visit during your stay in Dublin. The building is sober, yet has welcomed such illustrious students as Oliver Goldsmith (famous Irish poet), Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver's Travels), Robert Emmet (Irish nationalist leader), Samuel Beckett (Nobel Prize for Literature), Douglas Hyde (first Irish president after independence in 1922), Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), John Millington Synge (monument of Irish literature), Oscar Wilde (famous Irish writer)..

Ireland's first university was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth^I on the model of the prestigious English universities, with the aim of "civilizing Ireland with Protestant learning and religion". Trinity College was a Protestant university and, until 1966, Catholic students still needed a waiver to be accepted. Women have been admitted since 1903. The university is thus a reminder of the long process of emancipation of the Irish Catholic community from the grip of the United Kingdom.

Today, Trinity College is completely co-educational and welcomes over 18,900 students from all walks of life. The campus is teeming with people, a lively place where it's good to stroll and think of all the great names in history who have trodden the University's path. No trace remains of the original building, although the oldest dates back to the ^18th century. Trinity College has indeed expanded over the centuries. Within the university grounds, you can also admire the campanile (30 m high tower) donated in 1853 by the Bishop of County Armagh, and the chapel (on the left as you enter through the main gate, opposite College Green).

Old Library, Dublin's oldest library

From Trinity College's main courtyard, you can access the Old Library, home to thousands of rare and ancient works, including the famous Book of Kells. This manuscript, written in Latin, is a sublimely illuminated book of the Gospel dating from the ^9th century, the setting for admirable animal and decorative inventions of uncommon artistic mastery. It is considered one of the world's most precious historical treasures.

From one book to the next, it's impossible to avoid the Long Room

Upstairs is the impressive Long Room, the central nave of Trinity College's venerable library. This 64-metre-long room is packed with books (some 200,000 volumes), most of which date back to the ^16th century. Even today, despite Irish independence, Trinity College's library retains the right - enjoyed by only 4 British libraries - to receive a copy of every book published in the UK. The marble busts of all the authors listed when the library was founded in 1592 are also on display. The oldest harp in Ireland, probably dating from the ^15th century, is also on display.

Please note that since 2022 , the library has been undergoing indefinite renovation work, in particular to restore the old books. The old library and the long hall will remain open to visitors until the end of 2025, when restoration and construction work will begin. This major renovation project is estimated to cost at least 90 million euros.