Ireland’s oldest university, Trinity College Dublin is steeped with history and a premier stop on the city’s tourist trail. Aside from buildings of great historical significance, Trinity is currently home to the famous Book of Kells along with the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

Although it is at the heart of modern Dublin, when it was founded in 1592 Trinity lay outside the boundaries of the then small walled city. It was established by the British during a period of imperialist rule and protestant reformation, and for two centuries Trinity was an exclusively protestant college. Catholics were not formally admitted until 1793; women not until 1904.

With roughly 17,000 students Trinity College is now a world leader in Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Immunology, Mathematics, Engineering, Psychology, Politics and English. Trinity College is currently home to the Innovation Academy and the Science Gallery which features cutting-edge interactive exhibitions, which are a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike.

Trinity boasts the largest library in Ireland with over 6 million printed volumes documenting 400 years of academic development. The most famous piece in the Trinity collection is the Book of Kells which resides in the Old Library Long Room. The Long Room also hosts an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Trinity is a buzzing hive of not only academic activity but also social. It has over 120 student societies and 50 sports clubs.

Irish Aid Fellows in the past have studied a large variety of courses at Trinity, but the most popular remain the MSc in Global Health,  the Masters in Education and the MPhil in International Peace Studies.