Come Here To Me!

Trinity College Dublin (Robert French collection, NLI.)

The antics of Trinity College Dublin students have made it into the national media on many occasions, but recently I stumbled on a particularly boisterous day out in 1914, when students went on a rampage in the city, attacking both the Mansion House and the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union among other places. A wild day out ended with ten students arrested, the Civic flag of the Mansion House ripped to pieces and Countess Markievicz, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and others on the wrong side of student pranksters.

Trinity Monday was a traditional June day of debauchery in Dublin. On that day, scholarships were traditionally awarded to leading students through a formal ceremony that occurred on the steps of the Examinations Hall in the front square of the college. In 1914, crowds gathered here to hear the Vice Provost announce the newest Fellows, but the Irish Independent reported that "after the announcements had been made signs of some excitement became noticeable." The students made a rush for the gates of the college and towards the city, but were turned back by college authorities. Previous years had seen Trinity Monday descend into pranks and games on the streets of the city, and the college was hell-bent on preventing a repeat. It was reported however in the newspapers that there was a rush of hundreds of students for the Lincoln Place gates, with some emerging from over the railings of the university. From here, their day would take some amazing turns.

Shortly after midday, there were unexpected visitors at the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union on Clare Street. The Irish Independent reported that “a large number of the students arrived here” and that “a number of them bundled papers and banners together and threw them out of the window to a cheering crowd outside.” Not content with this, a political flag belonging to the movement was stolen, which was later carried triumphantly from the building.

Media coverage of the ‘escapades’ of the Trinity students (Irish Independent)

The real headline grabber of the day out was yet to come. Still clutching the stolen flag of the female political activists, the students made for the Mansion House, and rushed the building as a delivery was taking place.The day had taken a rather sinister turn just prior to this, with the students assault a cabman who refused to drive them to the Mansion House free of charge from outside the Kildare Street Club, and he later required hospitalisation. At the Mansion House, bizarre scenes followed.

The Irish Times reported that:

On a landing they found the municipal flag, which owing to the absence of the Lord Mayor from the city was not hoisted on the pole on the house-top. The students tore up the flag, and hoisted the ‘Suffragette’ flag upon the flagpole. For an hour this floated over the Mansion House.

Loud cheering and laughter was reported outside from the assembled students and curious Dubliners, but this was not to be the last of the days antics.

The students marched in the direction of Grafton Street, where the next victim was a bellman working at an auctioneers premises. It was noted that “his bell was commandeered and the man himself, despite his protests, was taken on the shoulders of a number of the students and a solemn procession, with the bell leading the way, was formed down to College Green.” The bellman was carried as far as the Theatre Royal Winter Gardens, where he was substituted for a large advertisement hoarding, of the music hall singer George Lashwood. The celebrated singer was performing at the theatre at the time, but for the students, the huge hoarding was destined for the River Liffey. The Irish Times reported that this huge hoarding was so heavy it took twelve students to carry it to O’Connell Bridge.

Above: A performance by George Lashwood.

The suffrage activists hadn’t had their final run-in with the students however. At Nelson’s Pillar, one student gave a sarcastic speech in which he said “Gentlemen, we are all in favour of votes for women, and we shall now proceed to the offices of the Suffragettes.” The second political offices of the day to be targeted was on Westmoreland Street, where among others Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and the Countess Markievicz were present. These offices were also ransacked, but the students were confronted and attacked by “a male sympathiser of the Suffragettes.” Most of the mob made for Amiens Street Train Station to welcome the Trinity Athletic team into the city, but the day was about to come to an abrupt end for the partying students, as the cabman who had been assaulted earlier in the day and a number of Suffragette activists arrived to identify the ringleaders of the gang under police protection. Ten students in total were arrested, and fines were handed out for the damage done to the Mansion House flag and the Suffragette offices. The college also took action against the students, with expulsions handed out to the participants.

An unprecedented and bizarre protest followed this, with Trinity students staging a mock ‘funeral’ the following week through Dublin, with the Irish Independent estimating that between 400 and 500 students from the college marched in Dublin in costume, and that “vigorous cheering” was indulged in at the Suffragette offices on Westmoreland Street. Escorting all this were donkey ‘cavalry’ riders, dressed in the costumes of clowns. The newspaper reported that “the whole parade was characterised by fun and merriment, and provided unlimited amusement to the spectators.” Yet I wonder just how amusing the female activists who had their offices trashed by these same students a week earlier found it.