Trinity College Certificate

Man2Man

Can anyone tell me the size of the Trinity College degree certificate and the name of the parchment? It's a bit urgent as we have to verify one. The certificate submitted to us is very weired in size and is of some sort parchment paper :rolleyes:.

Thanks.

IRLConor

Mine is larger than A4 and is on thick-ish paper. I don't have it to hand though, so I can't send you a photo.

If you need to properly check it, your best bet is to contact TCD. Perhaps start with the Student Records Office and if they're not the right people they'll probably point you in the right direction.

Ahoyhoy

It's slightly less than A3 and a real pain to find a frame for! It's meant to be on weird paper as it's a parchment, but the graduate in question should also have a simple A4 plain sheet photocopy of it with a Trinity stamp on it certifying that it's real. I'd say if you just call up the proctor's office in Trinity they can verify it for you.

Also I'm not sure what you mean by the name of the parchment...but the Trinity seal should be on there too, if I recall correctly (haven't looked at my degree in a while) it's the Trinity crest and it's a totally different texture to the rest of the degree...but I can't remember very well so if it isn't there don't take that as meaning it's a fake.

goingnowhere

Well it should be entirely in latin.

The degree is issued by the University of Dublin, so if someone has a certificate which says Trinity College Dublin its not what you think it is

You should have a large multi coloured crest at the top

Then a line in bold

UNIVERSITAS DUBLINIENSIS

Then some latin to describe the degree with the name of the holder

Date bottom left in roman numerals, signed right side by the registrar.

Man2Man

Thanks everyone. I think it's real as it matches with three of your descriptions. We were a bit curious because Trinity wasn't written anywhere and the language wasn't English. Now it's clear. Thanks.

randylonghorn

Strictly / legally speaking, Trinity College, although the name most in use, is only a college of the University of Dublin (as All Souls, Balliol, Christ Church, etc. are colleges of Oxford).

The oddity in this case is that there is only ONE college of the U. of Dublin ... Trinity!

It just grew and grew as a single entity, rather than a number of constituent colleges springing up.

And not a chance in hell that a degree parchment from Trinity would be in anything but Latin!

For that matter, even the National University of Ireland, a more modern foundation, uses Latin exclusively on its parchments.

Podge_irl

randylonghorn wrote: »

Strictly / legally speaking, Trinity College, although the name most in use, is only a college of the University of Dublin (as All Souls, Balliol, Christ Church, etc. are colleges of Oxford).

The oddity in this case is that there is only ONE college of the U. of Dublin ... Trinity!

It just grew and grew as a single entity, rather than a number of constituent colleges springing up.

And not a chance in hell that a degree parchment from Trinity would be in anything but Latin!

For that matter, even the National University of Ireland, a more modern foundation, uses Latin exclusively on its parchments.

There was a legal case some years back where it was decided that Trinity, as the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, is the same legal entity as the university. I think anyway, I remember reading up about it though may have the facts completely arseways.

kingQuez

What's surprizing is that someone would send you their original certificate; they cannot be replaced, and you would have to pry the ones I have from my dying hands after all the work it took to get them

Rodger_Muir

Podge_irl wrote: »

There was a legal case some years back where it was decided that Trinity, as the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, is the same legal entity as the university. I think anyway, I remember reading up about it though may have the facts completely arseways.

I believe the case was over a sum of money bequeath to UOD OR TCD. I'm not sure which. But when the case was resolved the money was used to fund the Reid entrance exams and establish the Reid professorship of law.

dabh

Podge_irl wrote: »

There was a legal case some years back where it was decided that Trinity, as the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, is the same legal entity as the university. I think anyway, I remember reading up about it though may have the facts completely arseways.

The Reid Judgement is available here:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Reid_judgement.pdf

Richard Tuohill Reid had left bequests to found a Professorship in Penal Law, and to found Reid Sizarships or Exhibitions for native of Co. Kerry.

On my reading of this judgement, the Elizabethan charter and subsequent letters patent of James I, Charles I and George III incorporated Trinity College, and delegated, confirmed and regulated the power to award degrees (which, according to the judgement, was an exercise of the Royal Prerogative). No other body relating to TCD was incorporated prior to letters patent granted by Victoria in 1857 which incorporated a body "under the name, style and title of the Chancellor, Doctor and Masters of the University of Dublin". In the Reid Judgement, it was determined that the body newly incorporated under these letters patent was the Senate of the University of Dublin, rather than the University itself. According to the judgement, both the body corporate of Trinity College and the body corporate of the Senate established by the Victorian letters patent had a claim to be consisdered the "Corporation of the University of Dublin", and the text of the will was analysed to determine, on the balance of probabilities, which of the two bodies corporate was that to whom the testator intended to make the bequests.