Ronan Richardson
Staff Writer
I know what you’re thinking. Same old story. Another tiresome rant about why Trinity is great and why UCD sucks. Sorry, but if you’re looking for that, I suggest you try an alternate publication. Following Jack Cantillon’s article, “Should’ve gone to UCD,” and indeed a recent article in an upstanding UCD publication regarding this ever present feud I felt that tit for tat was getting rather dull now. We need a new angle. Let’s take a look at why there’s so much animosity between the two Universities.
In short let’s just state the bloody obvious. Trinity students are the bad guys. We are the Anglo Irish ascendancy. We stole the potatoes. We pillaged the land. We defrauded the High King of his crown and committed the Irish nation to 800 years of brutality. While in contrast, UCD is the home of the old Irish saints and scholars of yore. A pure institution, a catholic institution. On the other hand, we’re child-munching prodeshants. We play Cricket and Rugby, they play GAA etc. Seriously though, Trinity as we all know was founded in the late sixteenth century to provide and education, a protestant pure education to those of the English establishment in Ireland. Sure even the land it was founded on was held by the crown following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. The land was presented to the city in return for the loyalty of the citizenry during the rebellion of Silken Tomas. Controversial. But realistically, the rift between UCD and TCD isn’t about Universities. It’s deeper than that. It’s cultural and religious sectarianism (in the lightest possible way) spurred on by efforts made by Trinity to drive itself closer and closer to Britain and UCD’s attempts, well, not to. Here are but a few historical examples.
It would be wrong to assume that Trinity College didn’t grind upon the gears of Dublin citizens from time to time. Repeatedly over the University’s history it has gone against the grain of common Dublin opinion. During the 1916 rising, the Trinity College Corps swore to protect their college and their city from what they felt were treasonous attempts to usurp the establishment. Indeed, historian Mary Muldowney emphasises Trinity’s loyalty to the Government repeatedly throughout it’s history, in 1916, in 1798 and even further back, during the English Civil war, Trinity was used as a garrison for troops loyal to Oliver Cromwell. Former Provost John Pentland Mahaffy suggests that it was easy for the College to adapt to Cromwellian rule during the Protectorate from 1653 to 1659, as the College was a puritan college in, as he suggests, “spirit and tradition.” Following the restoration, the loyalty shown by college to the new king copper fastened it as a staunchly Anglican institution.
More recently however when the issue arose at the beginning of the twentieth century to found a university for the majority of the nation, a committee was set up to investigate such a proposal. Comments from individuals such as the Catholic Bishop of Limerick, Edward Thomas allude to the idea that segregation of Catholic and Protestants was favourable to the Catholic hierarchy. “…a satisfactory organ for the higher education of the Protestant Episcopalian population of Ireland, it (Trinity) has never been an organ for the higher education of the Roman Catholic population.” The commission was set up in 1901 under Lord Robertson to enquire into how higher education in Ireland might be transformed to meet the needs of a nation, or essentially the catholic population of the nation. The commissioners were sympathetic to Trinity however; from Catholic interest groups the opposite was apparent. Evidence submitted from groups such as the Gaelic League and the Catholic Graduates and Undergraduates association was bitterly hostile to Trinity. This argues historian, J.V. Luce was in most part fuelled by sectarianism and to a an extent fuelled by the thought that Trinity was somewhat out of touch with Irish Cultural and national aspirations. After much pushing and shoving and haranguing from both sides, eventually it was settled that Trinity College was to remain the sole element of the University of Dublin, Queen’s in Belfast was to become a separate University, the Royal University was to be disbanded and the National College of Ireland was to take it’s place incorporating Queen’s Colleges in Cork and Galway.
While political turmoil, and cultural and educational sectarianism can serve as a basis for splitting the community, it can also be argued that the Catholic Church was to blame in large part for dividing public opinion regarding trinity. While Trinity allowed Catholics to study since 1793 it was not until 1970 that the Arch Bishop of Dublin lifted his ban on Trinity attendance. Muldowney mentions how local people living in Trinity’s environs were led to believe that it was a somewhat evil institution, and protestant at that. There are also accounts of people being fearful of entering the college and those who passed its front gate even blessed themselves!
But Ladies and Gentlemen, maybe I’m completely wrong. Maybe this rift is simpler than that. Maybe it’s plain and simple banter as it were. Pure rivalry inspiring loyalty to one’s institution. Trinity is seen as being for the landed gentry, for the better off (which is an untruth) whereas UCD is seen to be the University of the people. And this writer asks is such a thing truly negative? One thinks not. When everything is kept above board and friendly joshing doesn’t turn into deeper bullying and idiocy there’s no reason why such banter can’t continue and prosper loyalty to our most noble alma mater.
