Royal University of Ireland
Encyclopedia
The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. A Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of attendance at college lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...

s. The first chancellor was the Irish chemist Robert Kane
Robert Kane
Robert Kane may refer to:* Bob Kane , born as Robert Kahn; co-creator of Batman* Robert Kane , Irish chemist* Robert Kane , president of the United States Olympic Committee...

.

The university became the first university in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 that could grant degrees to women on a par with those granted to men; it granted its first degree to a woman on October 22, 1882. In 1888 Letitia Alice Walkington had the distinction of becoming the first woman in Great Britain or Ireland to receive a degree of Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

. Among the honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 recipients of the university was Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...

, founder of the Gaelic League and later President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

, who was awarded a DLitt in 1906.

Establishment

The Royal University of Ireland was the successor to the Queen's University of Ireland
Queen's University of Ireland
The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by Royal Charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university education to members of all religious denominations" in...

, dissolved in 1882, and the graduates, professors, students and colleges of that predecessor were transferred to the new university. In addition to the Queen's Colleges, Magee College
Magee College
Magee College is a campus of the University of Ulster located in Derry, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1865 as a Presbyterian Christian arts and theological college...

, University College, Dublin, Cecillia St. Medical School, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and Blackrock College
Blackrock College
Blackrock College is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, located in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in of grounds, it has an illustrious...

 presented students for examinations as well, and no special status was accorded to the colleges of the former Queen's University. After the 1880 reforms Catholic Colleges such as Carlow College
St. Patrick's, Carlow College
St Patrick's, Carlow College, founded in 1782 by Dr James Keefe, then Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, and his co-adjutor Bishop Daniel Delany, and opened in 1793, is a college in Carlow, Ireland. Initially he attempted to open a seminary in Tullow, but instead took out a 999 year...

, Holy Cross College and Blackrock College
Blackrock College
Blackrock College is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, located in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in of grounds, it has an illustrious...

 ("The French College") came under the Catholic University, and with a number of other seminaries presented students for examination by the RUI.

External students not of approved colleges could sit (and many did so) examinations of the Royal University although they were seen as being at a disadvantage to those of designated colleges whose professors were part of the university.

In fact, many schools, including convent schools (such as Dominican College, Eccles St, Dublin; Alexandra College
Alexandra College
Alexandra College is a private, single-sex school located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. It serves girls from ages 4 to 19 as boarding or day pupils. The school is one of the most prestigious in Ireland and ranks highly in Leaving Certificate results tables...

, Dublin; Loreto College, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin; Methodist College, Belfast
Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast , styled locally as Methody, is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council...

; High School for Girls, Derry; St. Columb's College, Derry; Rutland School, Mountjoy Square, Dublin; Dominican College, Sion Hill, Dublin; St Angela’s College, Cork; St Louis’s, Monaghan; Presentation College, Cork; Christian Brothers College, Cork; Rochelle College, Cork) prepared students for the examinations (including degree examinations) of the Royal University.

Like the Queen's University, the Royal University was entitled to grant any degree, similar to that of any other university in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

, except in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, the colleges themselves would award degrees in theology and divinity.

The professorships and Senate of the Royal University were shared equally between Roman Catholics and Protestants. However, colleges of the university maintained full independence except in the awarding of degrees, and the compilation and enforcement of academic regulations and standards.

The members of the senate of the Royal University included Gerald Molloy
Gerald Molloy
Gerald Molloy was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, theologian and scientist.-Life:He was educated at Castleknock College, and subsequently went to Maynooth College...

, William Joseph Walsh
William Joseph Walsh
William Joseph Walsh served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin from July 3, 1885 until his death in 1921. He was born in 11 Essex Quay in Dublin. He was educated at St. Laurence O’Toole Seminary School, Harcourt St., Dublin, the Catholic University of Ireland and St. Patrick's College,...

, John Healy
John Healy (archbishop)
The Most Reverend John Healy was an Irish clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Clonfert from 1896 to 1903 and Archbishop of Tuam from 1903 to 1918....

, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society...

, George Arthur Hastings Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard
George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard
George Arthur Hastings Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard KP was an Irish peer and soldier, styled Viscount Forbes from 1836 to 1837....

, Daniel Mannix
Daniel Mannix
Daniel Mannix was an Irish-born Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th century Australia....

, George Johnston Allman.

Chancellors of the Royal University of Ireland

  • Robert Kane
    Robert Kane (chemist)
    Sir Robert John Kane was an Irish chemist.-Youth:His father, John Kean, was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and fled for a time to France where he studied chemistry...

    , Chemist, appointed 1880
  • William Monsell
    William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly
    William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly PC was an Anglo-Irish landowner and Liberal politician. He held a number of ministerial positions between 1852 and 1873, notably as President of the Board of Health in 1857 and as Postmaster General between 1871 and 1873.-Background and education:Monsell was born to...

    , 1st Baron Emly ( 1885–1894 )
  • Reginald Brabazon
    Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath
    Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath KP GCVO GBE PC was a British politician and philanthropist.The Honourable Reginald Brabazon was born in London, second son of Lord Brabazon. When his father succeeded as 11th Earl of Meath in 1851, Reginald, now heir , was styled Lord Brabazon...

     12th Earl of Meath
  • Fitzpatrick, Bernard Edward Barnaby
    Bernard FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown
    Bernard Edward Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown KP CMG PC was an Irish soldier and Conservative Member of Parliament.-Biography:...

    , 2nd Baron Castletown of Upper Ossory ( 1906–1910 )

Fellows of the Royal University of Ireland

  • Thomas Preston
    Thomas Preston (scientist)
    Thomas Preston was an Irish scientist whose research was concerned with heat, magnetism, and spectroscopy. He established empirical rules for the analysis of spectral lines, which remain associated with his name...

    , scientist

Notable graduates of the Royal University of Ireland

A high number of graduates of the university for the time were women (the first 9 in 1884) because Trinity College Dublin did not accept female students until 1904.
  • Thomas Joseph Campbell
    Thomas Joseph Campbell
    Thomas Joseph Campbell , known as T. J. Campbell, was an Irish nationalist newspaper editor, politician and judge.Brought up as a Roman Catholic in Belfast, Campbell studied at St Malachy's College and the Royal University of Ireland. In 1895, he began editing the Irish News, a local nationalist...

  • Dr. Arthur W. Conway
    Arthur W. Conway
    Arthur William Conway FRS was President of University College Dublin between 1940 and 1947.Born in Wexford, he received his early education in St Peter’s College, Wexford and proceeded to enter old University College, Dublin in 1892. He received his BA Degree from the Royal University of Ireland...

     - BA (1896) - President of University College Dublin (1940–1947).
  • Éamon de Valera
    Éamon de Valera
    Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...

     - Mathematics (1904), Taoiseach
    Taoiseach
    The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

     and President of Ireland
    President of Ireland
    The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

  • Alexander Ernest Donnelly
    Alex Donnelly
    Alexander Ernest Donnelly, known as Alex Donnelly , was a nationalist politician and solicitor in Ireland.Donnelly studied at the Christian Brothers School in Omagh and the Royal University of Ireland. He was elected to Tyrone County Council in 1914, holding his seat until 1951, holding the post...

  • Mary Hayden
    Mary Hayden
    Mary Teresa Hayden was an Irish historian, Irish language activist and campaigner for women's causes.Mary Hayden was educated initially at the Dominican College, Eccles Street and then at Alexandra College in Dublin...

     - BA in 1885, and MA in Modern Languages in 1887
  • Douglas Hyde
    Douglas Hyde
    Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...

      - Honorary Degree
  • Kathleen Lynn
    Kathleen Lynn
    Kathleen Florence Lynn was an Irish Sinn Féin politician, activist and medical doctor. She was born to a Dublin Church of Ireland family and educated in England and Germany before graduating as a doctor in 1899 from the Royal University of Ireland.An active suffragette, labour activist and...

     - Medicine (1899)
  • Eoin MacNeill
    Eoin MacNeill
    Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...

  • Isabella Mulvaney BA (1884) - Principal of Alexandra College.
  • Kathleen O'Callaghan
    Kathleen O'Callaghan
    Professor Kathleen O'Callaghan was an Irish Sinn Féin politician and academic. Educated at the Royal University of Ireland and Cambridge, before entering politics she was a member of Cumann na mBan...

     - A founder member of Cumann na mBan, and Sinn Féin TD.
  • Agnes O'Farrelly
    Agnes O'Farrelly
    Agnes Winifred O'Farrelly , was an academic and Professor of Irish at University College Dublin . She was also the first female Irish-language novelist, a founding member of Cumann na mBan, and fourth president of the Camogie Association.-Early life:She was born 24 June 1874 in Raffony House,...

     BA (1899), MA (1900) - Professor of modern Irish in UCD (1932–1947)
  • James O'Mara
    James O'Mara
    James O'Mara was an Irish bacon merchant and politician who became a nationalist leader and key member of the revolutionary First Dáil. As an MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, he introduced the bill which made Saint Patrick's Day a national holiday in Ireland in 1903...

     BA (1898) - Irish Parliamentary Party MP, and Sinn Féin MP for Kilkenny South.
  • Alice Oldham BA, campaigned for women to be admitted to Trinity College Dublin.
  • Pádraig Pearse - BA Modern Languages (1901)
  • Thomas Preston
    Thomas Preston (scientist)
    Thomas Preston was an Irish scientist whose research was concerned with heat, magnetism, and spectroscopy. He established empirical rules for the analysis of spectral lines, which remain associated with his name...

    , scientist and discoverer the Anomalous Zeeman Effect
    Zeeman effect
    The Zeeman effect is the splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field. It is analogous to the Stark effect, the splitting of a spectral line into several components in the presence of an electric field...

    , among other achievements
  • Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington
    Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington
    Johanna Mary Sheehy-Skeffington, was a suffragette and Irish nationalist. Along with her husband and Margaret Cousins and James Cousins she founded the Irish Women's Franchise League in 1908 with the aim of obtaining women's voting rights...

     - BA(1899), MA (1902)
  • Letitia Alice Walkington - BA (1885), MA (1886), LLB (1888), LLD (1889)

Dissolution

On October 31, 1909 the Royal University was dissolved; the National University of Ireland
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...

 and Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...

took over its functions under the Irish Universities Act 1908, which provided for the transfer of graduates, staff and students to one or the other of these new universities.
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