This is a list of professorships, other notable positions, and public lectures at Trinity College Dublin.
The chairs in French (1776),[1] German (1776),[2] Irish (1840), English Literature (1867)[3] and the precursor (1776) of the current Chair of Spanish (1926)[4] are the oldest in the world in their respective subjects, as some others may be, or thereabouts - the Chair of Civil Engineering (1842) is the third oldest engineering professorship in the world (very soon after Paris and London).[5]
Only professorships more than 50 years old are listed, as are some other notable historical positions (e.g. Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics (1668), now mostly an honorary, usually one-year, title for a distinguished visiting mathematician). Some old chairs transferred to other institutions (e.g. the four King's Professors of Medicine to The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, which also previously appointed the professors) or were discontinued with changing circumstances, especially those beyond the ordinary (e.g. Chair of English Feudal Law).
Discontinued / evolved into or merged with other positions / No longer separately listed in College Calendar:
The next four are the 'King's Professors of Medicine' (transferred to the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland)
Chairs that existed for brief periods, or especially for one holder only
The Donnellan lectures were founded by the board on 22 February 1794, to carry out theintentions of Miss Anne Donnellan, of the parish of St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex, spinster, who bequeathed £1,243 to the College "for the encouragement of religion, learning, and good manners; the particular mode of application being left to the Provost and Senior Fellows". The subject is presented in not less than two lectures.
In 1984 the late Mrs Ruth Duthie made a gift of £1,000 to the college, which she augmented in 1989 by a further £1,000, to fund a lecture to be delivered once every two years, the lecturer to be chosen by the Professor of Microbiology and the Head of the Unit of Clinical Microbiology.
In 1976 the Earl of Donoughmore, together with members of the Hely-Hutchinson family, endowed a visiting lectureship in memory of John Hely-Hutchinson who established the Chairs of Modern Languages and Literature in 1776 (during his term as Provost). The lectures are given every second year by a scholar or writer of the highest distinction in the modern languages and literature field.
After the death of John Joly, F.T.C.D., SC.D., F.R.S., professor of geology and mineralogy 1897–1933, a number of his friends subscribed a sum of money to found a series of lectures in his memory.
This lectureship was founded in 1970 from a benefaction provided by the Engineering School Trust Fund to commemorate Sir John MacNeill, the first professor of civil engineering in the university. A public lecture is delivered every year by a lecturer appointed by the board.
Founded in 1996 by the Department of Microbiology in recognition of the generous support given to the department by the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby and her family, which includes funding the construction of the Moyne Institute of Preventive Medicine in 1953 and the provision of additional research facilities within the institute since then. The lecture is delivered annually by a research scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of microbiology.
These lectures take their name from Charles James O’Donnell 1850–1934, who bequeathed a sum of money to found annual lectures in the Universities of Oxford, Wales and Edinburgh, the National University of Ireland, and the University of Dublin. In the British universities the lectures are on the Celtic element in the English language and population; in the Irish universities they are on Irish history since Cromwell, with special reference to the history of ancient Irish families since 1641. The first O’Donnell lecture given in the University of Dublin was in 1957.
In 1981, on the occasion of its 250th anniversary, the Royal Dublin Society commemorated the college meeting to which it traces its origins by endowing a biennial lecture on aspects of Irish social and economic policy and history with special reference to the contribution of individuals and institutions.
These lectures were founded in 1988 from funds provided by subscription to commemorate William Bedell Stanford, Regius Professor of Greek 1940–1980, and chancellor of the university 1983–1984. A series of three public lectures is delivered twice every three years by a lecturer appointed by the board. It is intended that the lectures shall be published.
This lecture was established in 1992 from funds subscribed by friends and past colleagues and students to honour John Lighton Synge, F.R.S., M.R.I.A. [Scholar (1916), Fellow and Professor of Natural Philosophy (1925–30), Honorary Fellow (1954-95)]. The lecture is delivered once every two years by a lecturer appointed by the School of Mathematics.
These lectures were founded in 1964 from funds provided by subscription to commemorate Herbert Martyn Oliver White, Professor of English Literature 1939–60. A public lecture is delivered every two or three years by a lecturer appointed by the Board and is followed by a seminar for senior students in English literature.
The Godfrey Day memorial lectureship was founded by the Board on 9 December 1939. Each year a lecture (or lectures) on a missionary theme is organised. The Board appoints the lecturer on the nomination of the Missionary Council of the Church of Ireland which is at all times advised by the committee of the Dublin University Far Eastern Mission.
A public lecture is given from time to time financed by a fund established by colleagues and friends to commemorate Sarah Davis, 1943–82, who was a member of staff of the Department of Statistics. The objective of the fund is to promote the study of communications in health care by organising occasional lectures and other means.