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Ownership of Trinity College, Dublin

  • 15-07-2015 11:14am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 90 ✭✭


    I am interested to find out the current owner of Trinity College. I know that they are somehow connected to Oxford and Cambridge in the UK (read it somewhere I think). Is Trinity Irish owned? Is it run like a business or is it Government controlled or non profit?
    Please forgive if I have said something stupid, I'm not well up on this sort of thing. Thanks.


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 367 ✭✭qweerty


    It has a sister college in each of Oxford and Cambridge (Oriel and St John's respectively), but no other connection. As far as I know, while it is accountable to the Higher Education Authority, it remains an independent entity governed by the Provost, fellows and scholars.


  • Registered Users Posts: 90 ✭✭MrYlad


    qweerty wrote:
    It has a sister college in each of Oxford and Cambridge (Oriel and St John's respectively), but no other connection. As far as I know, while it is accountable to the Higher Education Authority, it remains an independent entity governed by the Provost, fellows and scholars.

    Ye, that's it. So would it be considered an Irish institution then?


  • Registered Users Posts: 22,193 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    MrYlad wrote: »
    Ye, that's it. So would it be considered an Irish institution then?

    Pretty much. And the largest private land and property owner in Dublin City.


  • Registered Users Posts: 90 ✭✭MrYlad


    endacl wrote:
    Pretty much. And the largest private land and property owner in Dublin City.

    And would a university like Trinity be a 'profit-making' institution like a business?


  • Registered Users Posts: 22,193 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    MrYlad wrote: »
    And would a university like Trinity be a 'profit-making' institution like a business?

    https://www.tcd.ie/Secretary/corporate/legal-faq/


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭234


    MrYlad wrote: »
    And would a university like Trinity be a 'profit-making' institution like a business?

    It's a copration in that it is constituted by royal charter. There are no restrictions on its profit making abilities. However for tax reasons it will ensure that it manages to maintain education as its primary purpose.

    It has very few activities that can actually generate a profit. It makes a loss on almost all students and needs to subsidise them through other funding.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 367 ✭✭qweerty


    234 wrote: »
    It's a copration in that it is constituted by royal charter. There are no restrictions on its profit making abilities. However for tax reasons it will ensure that it manages to maintain education as its primary purpose.

    It has very few activities that can actually generate a profit. It makes a loss on almost all students and needs to subsidise them through other funding.

    According to link above, it has charity status, which I presume places limitations on profit-making.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,529 ✭✭✭234


    qweerty wrote: »
    According to link above, it has charity status, which I presume places limitations on profit-making.

    Not particularly, charities have substantial profit margins. If you make a large donation then the only overheads are those involved in collecting it. Anything after that is profit. Charitable status relates to the use to which the money (profit) is put, not how much money you make.

    Charities can have large private wealth portfolios and use the profits generated on them to fund their charitable activities.

    If you could show that the charity was hoarding its money and seemingly more interested in accumulating and holding money than applying it to further its charitable purposes then you might go to the Revenue Commissioners and they would investigate.


  • Registered Users Posts: 992 ✭✭✭fh041205


    qweerty wrote: »
    It has a sister college in each of Oxford and Cambridge (Oriel and St John's respectively), but no other connection.

    There's a Trinity College in Oxford also. Are they unrelated?


  • Registered Users Posts: 22,193 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    fh041205 wrote: »
    There's a Trinity College in Oxford also. Are they unrelated?

    No. Clue's in the name. There's no 'Quadrinity College'.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 367 ✭✭qweerty


    endacl wrote: »
    No. Clue's in the name. There's no 'Quadrinity College'.

    I don't understand this. There's a Trinity College in both Oxford and Cambridge, but they're named for the Holy Trinity and have no other connection.


  • Registered Users Posts: 774 ✭✭✭stealinhorses


    People seem to have a misconception that there exists a "trinity" between TCD and some colleges in Oxford and Cambridge and this is where the name comes from. TCD is named after the Christian "Holy and Undivided Trinity", as the official name suggests.


  • Registered Users Posts: 22,193 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    People seem to have a misconception that there exists a "trinity" between TCD and some colleges in Oxford and Cambridge and this is where the names comes from. TCD is named after the Christian "Holy and Undivided Trinity", as the official name suggests.
    Indeed.

    "The College if the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin".

    A bit of a mouthful. Trinity does have sister colleges in Oxford (Oriel), and Cambridge (St. John's). Trinity grads are entitled to wear academic robes on specific days in those colleges.

    So, I suppose, while Trinity isn't twinned (tripletted?) with the other Trinities, Trinities do tend to flock in threes.*

    * Read that last bit in a Dublin accent and try to imagine the size of the tree that would be required!

    :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭cbreeze


    234 wrote: »
    Not particularly, charities have substantial profit margins. If you make a large donation then the only overheads are those involved in collecting it. Anything after that is profit. Charitable status relates to the use to which the money (profit) is put, not how much money you make.

    Charities can have large private wealth portfolios and use the profits generated on them to fund their charitable activities.

    If you could show that the charity was hoarding its money and seemingly more interested in accumulating and holding money than applying it to further its charitable purposes then you might go to the Revenue Commissioners and they would investigate.

    Trinity is a registered chartity


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