Come Here To Me!

The building today.

The Trinity College Dublin ‘Post Graduate Reading Room’ has a long history, with the structure dating back to 1928 with the erection of a ‘Hall of Honour’ for Trinity men who gave their lives in the Great War, added to on July 3rd of 1937 with the reading room opened by President de Valera. It’s a beautiful building, one of the most unusual in the city, but easy to miss as you take the shortcut through Trinity College Dublin.

The Weekly Irish Times, July 1937

As early as 1919, newspapers were reporting on meetings of “past and present members of the Dublin University” which aimed to promote the idea of a permanent war memorial at the college to those who had fallen during the Great War. Following a meeting in early November of 1919, The Irish Times noted that the Lord Chancellor proposed a resolution which noted ‘That it is desired to promote a College War Memorial of a permanent character, and that the names of members of the University who fell in the Great War may be kept in honour and remembrance’.

Money was raised from a variety of sources, including graduates of the institution, and by the summer of 1920 discussions had moved onto what form of memorial would be most appropriate. A resolution was adopted by the committee responsible for the memorial which read: “That,as at present advised, the executive committee are of opinion that the College War Memorial should be a dignified building in proximity to the West End of the Library to be used as a reading room for students and graduates.”

Of course, all this talk of a College War Memorial was occurring at a time of national rebellion, a rebellion from which Trinity College Dublin couldn’t hide. A tragic incident would occur at the college for example in early June of 1921. The college, steadfastly loyal, was host to a cricket match in connection with Warriors Day which saw the ‘Gentlemen of Ireland’ take on the ‘Military of Ireland’ on June 3rd. The IRA saw this as a legitimate target and opened fire from the railings of Nassau Street, which tragically resulted in the death of Kate Wright, a young student at the college. Kate was only 21 at the time.

The Irish Independent reports on the shooting at Trinity.

It was November of 1928 before the grand permanent College War Memorial would be unveiled, with the honour falling to ‘Lord Glenavy’, the Vice-Chancellor of the Dublin University, a one time member of parliament and appointed Lord Chief Justice in 1916. The building was to commemorate the 463 Trinity College Dublin men who died in the Great War. A large assembly of students and staff gathered for the opening of the Hall of Honour, and witnessed the Memorial Committee handing the War Memorial over to the care of the Provost of the University. Below is the War Memorial as shown in The Irish Times of January 10th 1929. The paper looked at the building in some detail as part of their ‘Building and Reconstruction’ feature, noting that: “The building is in the Doric style of architecture. It is raised on a platform approached by a flight of seven stone steps….The hall is about 36 feet long with a staircase on one side leading to the future reading room….The names of the fallen are inscribed in gold letters on five statuary marble panels.”

In 1937, to the tune of £25,000, the new Reading Room was finally ready to open. Ironically, it was a vetaran of the 1916 rising who was to open the Reading Room attached to the College War Memorial, in the form of President de Valera. In his speech the President talked of Thomas Davis, a graduate of the college, quoting his words: “Beside a library, how poor are all the other greatest deeds of men”

It was undoubtedly symbolic of changing times at the institution that Dev should open the new Reading Rooms, and that he should arrive to the sound of the Garda band playing the national anthem!

Clever advertising in the Independent following the 1937 opening of the Reading Room!

One thing which baffles Dubliners about the Post Grad Reading Room today are the letters NIKH above its doors.The letters NIKH on the front is the name of the Greek goddess of victory. It’s a beautiful building with a complex history, but easy to miss, dwarfed today by the architecture behind it.

When you’re strolling through Trinity, for another piece of unusual ‘Great War’ era history, pop around to the cricket pitches and you’ll find a monument to a young British soldier buried at Trinity College during the 1916 uprising, Arthur Charles Smith of the Royal Hussars.

NIKH