University College Dublin

University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) (Irish: An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath), is a research university in Dublin, Ireland. With over 1,480 faculty and 32,000 students,[2] it is Ireland's largest university. The university originates in a body founded in 1854 with John Henry Newman as the first rector known as the Catholic University of Ireland, re-formed in 1880 and chartered in its own right in 1908. The Universities Act, 1997 renamed the constituent university as the "National University of Ireland, Dublin", and a ministerial order of 1998 renamed the institution as "University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin".

Originally located in locations across Dublin city, all of the university's faculties have since been relocated to a 133-hectare (330-acre) campus at Belfield, four kilometres to the south of the city centre.

University College Dublin is frequently ranked among the top universities in Europe.[4] There are five Nobel Laureates amongst University College Dublin's alumni and current and former staff.

A report published in May 2015 showed that the total economic output generated by UCD and its students in Ireland amounted to €1.3 billion annually.

In the years following Catholic Emancipation in Ireland, a movement led by Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Armagh and, later, Archbishop of Dublin (and later created a Cardinal), attempted to provide for the first time in Ireland higher-level education that was both accessible to Irish Catholics and taught by fellow-Catholics. In the 19th century, the question of denominational education in Ireland was a contentious one. It had divided Daniel O'Connell and the Young Ireland Movement for many years. The Catholic Hierarchy wanted to counteract the "Godless Colleges" established in Galway, Belfast and Cork and to provide a Catholic alternative to Trinity College, Dublin. Trinity was Anglican in its origins and, though Catholics had studied there since the 1780s, Trinity had maintained a religious test that excluded them from membership of the college's governing bodies (see Denis Caulfield Heron). In 1850 at the Synod of Thurles it was decided to open a Catholic University.

As a result of these efforts a new Catholic University of Ireland was opened in 1854 and John Henry Newman was appointed as its first rector. Newman had been an integral figure in the Oxford Movement in the 19th Century. The Catholic University opened its doors on the feast of St Malachy, 3 November 1854. On that day the names of seventeen students were entered on the register and Newman gave the students an address "What are we here for" and prophesied that in later years they would look back with pride on the day. The university opened with three houses: 86 St Stephen's Green, which was known as St Patrick's or University House, under the care of The Rev. Michael Flannery; 16 Harcourt Street, known as St Lawrence's under the care of The Rev. James Quinn, who also had his school there; and Newman's own house, 6 Harcourt Street, known as St Mary's under Newman's personal supervision.

Amongst the first students enrolled it included the grandson of Daniel O’Connell. Another included William O'Shea who would go on to become a Captain in the British Army and was central to the divorce crises which brought down Charles Stewart Parnell's career in trying to establish Home Rule for Ireland. O'Shea clashed with Newman and left to go to Trinity, however, after one year. Of the eight original students in Newman's own home, two were Irish, two English, two Scottish and two French. Among them were a French viscount, and Irish baronet Sir Reginald Barnewall, the son of a French countess, the grandson of a Scottish marquis, and the son of an English lord. Later were added to his care two Belgian princes and a Polish count. Many were attracted to the University on the basis of the reputation of Newman.

As a private university the Catholic University was never given a royal charter, and so was unable to award recognized degrees and suffered from chronic financial difficulties. Newman left the university in 1857, after which the school went into a serious decline. Bartholomew Woodlock appointed Rector and served until he became Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise in 1879. In this period he attempted to secure a site of 34 acres at Clonliffe West but the scheme collapsed when expansion of the railway system on the north side of Dublin cut across the site. He then turned his attention to expanding along St Stephen's Green and over these years bought from No. 82 to 87.

The decline was halted in 1880 with the establishment of the Royal University of Ireland. The Royal Universities charter entitled all Irish students to sit the Universities examinations and receive its degrees. Although in many respects the Catholic University can be viewed as a failure, the future University College inherited substantial assets from it including a successful medical school (Cecilia Street) and two beautiful buildings, Newman House on St Stephen's Green and the adjoining University Church.