Buildings of Trinity College, Dublin
The buildings of the university, which, from their extent and magnificence, form one of the principal ornaments of the city, consist of three spacious quadrangles, erected chiefly after designs by Sir William Chambers. The principal front, which occupies the whole of the eastern side of College-green, is 380 feet long, built of Portland stone, and consists of a projecting centre, ornamented with four three-quarter Corinthian columns supporting an enriched cornice and pediment, under which is the principal entrance; and at each extremity of the facade is a projecting pile of square building, decorated with duplicated pilasters of the same order, between which is a noble Venetian window, enriched with festoons of flowers and fruit in high relief; and above the cornice, which extends along the whole of the front, rises an attic surmounted by a balustrade.
The entrance is by an octangular vestibule, the ceiling of which is formed of groined arches: it leads into the first quadrangle, called Parliament-square, from its having been rebuilt chiefly by the munificence of Parliament, which granted at different times £40,000 for the purpose. This quadrangle, which is 316 feet in length and 212 in breadth, contains, besides apartments for the fellows and students, the chapel, the theatre for examinations, and the refectory.
The chapel, which is on the north side, is ornamented in front by a handsome portico of four Corinthian columns, supporting a rich cornice surmounted by a pediment; the interior is 80 feet in length, exclusively of a semicircular recess of 20 feet radius, 40 feet broad, and 44 feet in height; the front of the organ gallery is richly ornamented with carved oak.
The theatre, on the south side, has a front corresponding exactly with that of the chapel, and is of the same dimensions; the walls are decorated with pilasters of the Composite order, rising from a rustic basement; between the pilasters are whole-length portraits of Queen Elizabeth, the foundress, and of the following eminent persons educated in the college; Primate Ussher, Archbishop King, Bishop Berkeley, William Molyneux, Dean Swift, Dr. Baldwin, and John Foster, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons: there is also a fine monument of black and white marble and porphyry, executed at Rome by Hewetson, a native of Ireland, at an expense of £2000, erected to the memory of Dr. Baldwin, formerly provost, who died in 1758, and bequeathed £80,000 to the university.
The refectory is a neat building, ornamented with four Ionic pilasters supporting a cornice and pediment over the entrance; a spacious ante-hall opens into the dining-hall, in which are portraits of Henry Flood, Lord Chief Justice Downes, Lord Avonmore, Hussey Burgh, Lord Kilwarden, Henry Grattan, the Prince of Wales (father of George III.), Cox, Archbishop of Cashel, and Provost Baldwin. Over the ante-hall an elegant apartment has been recently fitted up for the Philosophy school, and furnished with a valuable collection of philosophical and astronomical instruments; and in it are delivered the public lectures of the professors of natural philosophy and astronomy.
The second quadrangle, called the Library-square, is 265 feet in length and 214 feet in breadth. Three sides of it are occupied by uniform ranges of brick building, containing apartments for the students; these are now the oldest buildings in the college and are fast verging to decay. The fourth side is formed by the library, a very fine building of granite, the basement story of which forms a piazza extending the whole length of the square, above which are two stories surmounted by an enriched entablature and crowned with a balustrade. It consists of a centre and two pavilions at the extremities: in the western pavilion are the grand staircase, the Law school, and the librarian's apartment; from the landing-place large folding doors open into the library, a magnificent gallery, 210 feet in length, 41 feet in breadth, and 40 feet high; between the windows on both sides are partitions of oak projecting at right angles from the side walls, and forming recesses in which the books are arranged; the partitions terminate in fluted Corinthian columns of carved oak, supporting a broad cornice, surmounted by a balustrade of oak richly carved, and forming a handsome front to a gallery which is continued round the whole of the room.
From the gallery rises a series of Corinthian pilasters between a range of upper windows, supporting a broad entablature and cornice; at the bases of the lower range of pilasters are pedestals supporting busts, finely executed in white marble, of the most eminent of the ancient and modern philosophers, poets, orators, and men of learning, including several distinguished members of the university. At the extremity of this room is an apartment, in a transverse direction, 52 feet in length, fitted up in similar style, and containing the Fagel library, over which, and communicating with the gallery, is the apartment for MSS., containing records illustrative of Irish and English history of great value, works in the Greek, Arabic, and Persian languages, and some richly illuminated, bibles and missals: the magnificent collection comprises upwards of 100,000 volumes.
To the north of the Library-square is the third quadrangle, of modern structure, but with few pretensions to architectural elegance. It is wholly appropriated to chambers for the students, which occupy two of its sides, the other two being formed by the rear of the northern range of the Library-square and by one side of the dining-hall. A temporary building near its centre contains the great bell, formerly suspended in a steeple which made part of the ancient chapel of the college; it was intended by the original design of the first or principal quadrangle to be erected in a dome over the gateway.
The old chapel and belfrey occupied the vacant space between the first and second quadrangles. An additional square, to contain suites of apartments for students, is laid out and the buildings of one side of it commenced, eastward of the Library-square, part of which is to be taken down when the new range of buildings is finished. The University Museum, a handsome apartment 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, is immediately over the vestibule of the entrance from College Green; it comprises, under the superintendence of a curator, several collections of minerals, of which there are more than 9000 specimens. The Printing-office, founded by Dr. Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, is a handsome structure with an elegant portico of the Doric order, and is situated on the east of the Library-square.
To the south of the library is a fine garden for the fellows; and to the east of the College buildings is the Park, comprising about 20 acres, planted and tastefully laid out for the use of the students. Beyond the park are the Chymical Laboratory and the School of Anatomy: this range of building, which is 115 feet in length and 50 feet in breadth, contains a chymical laboratory and lecture-room, with apartments for the professor, a dissecting-room extending the whole length of the building, and an anatomical lecture-room, 30 feet square; an anatomical museum, 30 feet long and 28 feet wide, in which was a valuable collection of preparations of human, comparative, and morbid anatomy, the largest and by much the most valuable part of which, being the private collection of Dr. Macartney, the present professor, has been sold by him to the university of Cambridge.
The Provost's house, a spacious and handsome edifice, is to the south of the west front of the university, and is skreened from Grafton-street by a high wall with a massive gateway in the centre.
The College Botanic Gardens are situated in the south-eastern extremity of the city, near Ball's bridge, and comprised originally about four acres, to which two more have been lately added; they are enclosed towards the public road into the city by a dwarf wall of granite surmounted by a very high iron palisade, were first laid out in 1807, and contain an extensive collection of plants well arranged and kept in excellent order.
The College Observatory is situated on Dunsink-hill, in Castleknock parish, about 4 miles to the north-west of the city. The building fronts to the east, and consists of a centre and two receding wings, the former surmounted by a dome which covers the equatorial room, and is move-able, having an aperture two feet six inches wide, which can be directed to any part of the horizon; around the dome is a platform, which commands an extensive and varied prospect.
The first professor was Dr. Ussher, senior fellow of Dublin college, under whose direction the building was erected, and who was succeeded, on his death in 1792, by the late learned and ingenious Dr. Brinkley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne; after whose death, in 1835, the present astronomer-royal of Ireland, Sir William Rowan Hamilton, was appointed.