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Trinity College Review

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Trinity College

Member Rating: ***** 4.8 | Rate It

Fodor's Review:

Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I to "civilize" (Her Majesty's word) Dublin, Trinity is Ireland's oldest and most famous college. The memorably atmospheric campus is a must; here you can track the shadows of some of the noted alumni, such as Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Bram Stoker (1847-1912), and Samuel Beckett (1906-89). Trinity College, Dublin (familiarly known as TCD), was founded on the site of the confiscated Priory of All Hallows. For centuries Trinity was the preserve of the Protestant Church; a free education was offered to Catholics -- provided that they accepted the Protestant faith. As a legacy of this condition, until 1966 Catholics who wished to study at Trinity had to obtain a dispensation from their bishop or face excommunication.

Trinity's grounds cover 40 acres. Most of its buildings were constructed in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The extensive West Front, with a classical pedimented portico in the Corinthian style, faces College Green and is directly across from the Bank of Ireland; it was built between 1755 and 1759, and is possibly the work of Theodore Jacobsen, architect of London's Foundling Hospital. The design is repeated on the interior, so the view is the same from outside the gates and from the quadrangle inside. On the lawn in front of the inner facade stand statues of two alumni, orator Edmund Burke (1729-97) and dramatist Oliver Goldsmith (1730-74). Like the West Front, Parliament Square (commonly known as Front Square), the cobblestone quadrangle that lies just beyond this first patch of lawn, dates from the 18th century. On the right side of the square is Sir William Chambers's theater, or Examination Hall, dating from the mid-1780s, which contains the college's most splendid Adamesque interior, designed by Michael Stapleton. The hall houses an impressive organ retrieved from an 18th-century Spanish ship and a gilded oak chandelier from the old House of Commons; concerts are sometimes held here. The chapel, left of the quadrangle, has stucco ceilings and fine woodwork. The theater and the chapel were designed by Scotsman William Chambers in the late 18th century. The looming campanile, or bell tower, is the symbolic heart of the college; erected in 1853, it dominates the center of the square. To the left of the campanile is the Graduates Memorial Building, or GMB. Built in 1892, the slightly Gothic building now contains the offices of Philosophical and Historical societies, Trinity's ancient and fiercely competitive debating groups. At the back of the square stands old redbrick Rubrics, looking rather ordinary and out of place among the gray granite and cobblestones. Rubrics, now used as housing for students and faculty, dates from 1690, making it the oldest campus building still standing.

The Old Library houses Ireland's largest collection of books and manuscripts; its principal treasure is the Book of Kells, generally considered to be the most striking manuscript ever produced in the Anglo-Saxon world and one of the great masterpieces of early Christian art. The book, which dates to the 9th century, is a splendidly illuminated version of the Gospels. It was once thought to be lost -- the Vikings looted the book in 1007 for its jeweled cover but ultimately left the manuscript behind. In the 12th century, Guardius Cambensis declared that the book was made by an angel's hand in answer to a prayer of St. Bridget; in the 20th century, scholars decided instead that the book originated on the island of Iona off Scotland's coast, where followers of St. Colomba lived until the island came under siege in the early to mid-9th century. They fled to Kells, County Meath, taking the book with them. The 680-page work was rebound in four volumes in 1953, two of which are usually displayed at a time, so you typically see no more than four original pages. (Some wags have taken to calling it the "Page of Kells.") However, such is the incredible workmanship of the Book of Kells that one folio alone is worth the entirety of many other painted manuscripts. On some pages, it has been determined that within a quarter inch, no fewer than 158 interlacements of a ribbon pattern of white lines on a black background can be discerned -- little wonder some historians feel this book contains all the designs to be found in Celtic art. Note, too, the extraordinary colors, some of which were derived from shellfish, beetles' wings, and crushed pearls. The most famous page shows the "XPI" monogram (symbol of Christ), but if this page is not on display, you can still see a replica of it, and many of the other lavishly illustrated pages, in the adjacent exhibition -- dedicated to the history, artistry, and conservation of the book -- through which you must pass to see the originals.

Because of the fame and beauty of the Book of Kells -- now the centerpiece of an exhibition called "Turning Darkness into Light" -- it's all too easy to overlook the other treasures in the library. They include the Book of Armagh, a 9th-century copy of the New Testament that also contains St. Patrick's Confession, and the legendary Book of Durrow, a 7th-century Gospel book from County Offaly. You may have to wait in line to enter the library if you don't get there early in the day.

The main library room, also known as the Long Room, is one of Dublin's most staggering sights. At 213 feet long and 42 feet wide, it contains in its 21 alcoves approximately 200,000 of the 3 million volumes in Trinity's collection. Originally the room had a flat plaster ceiling, but in 1859-60 the need for more shelving resulted in a decision to raise the level of the roof and add the barrel-vault ceiling and the gallery bookcases. Since the 1801 Copyright Act, the college has received a copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland, and a great number of these publications must be stored in other parts of the campus and beyond. Of note are the carved Royal Arms of Queen Elizabeth I above the library entrance -- the only surviving relic of the original college buildings -- and, lining the Long Room, a grand series of marble busts, of which the most famous is Roubiliac's depiction of Jonathan Swift. The Trinity College Library Shop sells books, clothing, jewelry, and postcards. [. Front Sq., Southside. 01/608-2308. www.tcd.ie. EUR 8. May-Sept., Mon.-Sat. 9:30-5, Sun. 9:30-4:30; Oct.-Apr., Mon.-Sat. 9:30-5, Sun. noon-4:30

Trinity College's starkly modern Arts and Social Sciences Building, with an entrance on Nassau Street, houses the Douglas Hyde Gallery of Modern Art, which concentrates on contemporary art exhibitions and has its own bookstore. Also in the building, down some steps from the gallery, is a snack bar serving coffee, tea, and sandwiches, where students willing to chat about life in the old college frequently gather. [. Nassau St., Southside. 01/608-1116. Free. Mon.-Wed. and Fri. 11-6, Thurs. 11-7, Sat. 11-4:45

The Berkeley Library, the main student library at Trinity, was built in 1967 and named after the philosopher and alumnus George Berkeley (pronounced "Barkley," like the basketball player). The small open space in front of the library contains a spherical brass sculpture designed by Arnaldo Pomodoro. A very modern, sleek extension dominates the Nassau Street side of the campus. The library is not open to the public.[. Nassau St., Southside. 01/677-2941. www.tcd.ie. Grounds daily 8 AM-10 PM

In the Thomas Davis Theatre in the arts building, the "Dublin Experience," a 45-minute audiovisual presentation, explains the history of the city over the last 1,000 years. Nassau St., Southside. 01/608-1688. EUR 5. Late May-early Oct., daily 10-5; shows every hr on the hr.

Member Reviews & Ratings:

A justifiable top Dublin star

Posted by poloso from Inverness, Scotland on 10/13/07
It was interesting to see that the Book of Kells may actually have originated in Iona (ie in Scotland). The Long Room in the library is particularly impressive.

Experience: 5.0 Ease: 5.0 Value: 4.0 Don't Miss: 5.0 RATING: 4.8

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