Why do we hate UCD so much (and vice versa)?
Rachel Lavin examines the history of the rivalry between Trinity and UCD...
With a Catholic and Protestant division amongst both colleges, nationalism soon came to play a role in the divide. UCD produced many nationalist heroes, although of differing ideologies on how to establish independence. Some of these graduates would later go on to lead the 1916 Rising and they set their sights on Trinity. Indeed, rebels attempted to take siege of Trinity on that fateful Easter Monday. It was reported that Lieutenant E. H. Alton, then positioned in Trinity’s own military centre, found himself short-staffed but was able to solicit the help of enough Trinity students to help defend the college from the Easter Rising rebels. Indeed, as Ronan Richardson points out, this wasn’t the first time Trinity showed its loyalty to the Government. In 1798 and even before that, during the English Civil war, troops loyal to Oliver Cromwell used Trinity as a garrison. The 1916 attempted siege of Trinity ultimately failed and the loss was a strategic turning point in the 1916 rising. For these reasons it would become one of the symbolic sites of the fight for Irish nationalism. However, post-independence, it would become a battleground of Irish nationalism once more and would epitomize the height of Trinity and UCD inter-fighting.
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