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| 2030 Dublin - Trinity College |
Posted on 11.03.2013, 13.11.2015, 01.02.2018
Probable that Dublin no longer looks as it was presented in Dubliners by Joyce, but certainly that Trinity College, the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin, hasn't changed much since Beckett studied there, from 1923 to 1927. Founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university, and modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, it's one of the seven ancient universities of the British Isles, and was originally intended to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, being seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history.
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| 0549 Dublin - The Long Room from Trinity College Library (1) |
Although Roman Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter in college since 1793, the professorships, the fellowships and the scholarships were reserved for Protestants until 1873, and the Catholic Church forbade its adherents from attending, without permission of their bishop, until 1970. Its library is the largest research library in Ireland, and a legal deposit library for the UK and Ireland, so it receives a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland, which means 100,000 new items every year. It contains circa five million books, including significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music.
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| 3253 Dublin - The Long Room from Trinity College Library (2) |
The Book of Kells, created by Celtic monks ca. 800, is by far its most famous book and is located in the Old Library. As is writes on the postcard, "The main chamber of the Old Library, the Long Room, is nearly 65m in length, and houses around 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. In 1860 the roof was raised to allow the construction of the present barrel-vaulted ceiling and gallery bookcases. Marble busts are placed down either side of the room which also contains the oldest surviving harp in Ireland." It's about the Brian Boru harp, one of the three surviving medieval Gaelic harps, and a national symbol of Ireland (used also on the Irish Euro coins), received by the college in the 18th century.
On the back of the postcard 0549 was applied a seal with the college's logo, bearing its former name, in Latin, "Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin" (The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin), and its arms, depicted in 1612 and confirmed in 1901. According to Andrew Cusack, "they are blazoned Azure, a Bible closed, clasps to the dexter, between in chief, on a dexter a lion passant, on the sinister a harp, all or, and in base a castle with two towers domed, each surmounted by a banner flotant from the sides, argent, the dexter flag charged with a cross, the sinister with a saltire, gules. The banner flotant from the tower on the viewer's left is, of course, the English flag, while that on the right bears the FitzGerald arms, the red saltire on a white background. These arms were later elevated to the rank of a national emblem, and when the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were joined, the St. Patrick's Cross (as it became known) was added to the Union Jack, where it remains to this day."
Trinity College is part of The Historic City of Dublin, submitted on the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, about which I wrote here.
About the stamps
On the postcard 0549
The stamp is an ATM one, belonging to the third set of definitives named Irish Animals and Marine Life and dedicated to showing, protecting and promoting Ireland's rich biodiversity, a continuation of the series started in 2010. The kiosks were programmed (since May 1st, 2012) with two postage rates for domestic mail, 0.55 and 0.95 EUR, and two for international mail, 0.82 and 1.50 EUR. The eight photographic designs feature different animal species living in the country:
• fireworks anemone (Pachycerianthus multiplicatus)
• spiny seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus)
• green crab (Carcinus maenas)
• pike (Esox lucius)
• smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) - It's on the postcard 0549
• Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus)
• raft spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus)
• kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
On the postcard 2030
The stamp, depicting Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina), is part of the definitive series about Irish animals and marine life, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 3253
The stamp is one of the two Christmas 2017 Stamp SOAR, about which I wrote here.
References
Trinity College, Dublin - Wikipedia
Trinity College Dublin - Official website
Arms of the Irish Universities - Andrew Cusack's blog
Ireland. The SOAR issues in 2012 - ateeme.net
Sender 0549: Mircea Ostoia
Sent from Dublin (Leinster/Laighin, Ireland), on 01.03.2013
Photo: Liam Blake
Sender 2030: Marius Vasilescu
Sent from Dublin (Leinster/Laighin, Ireland), on 01.03.2014
Photo: Liam Blake
Sender 3253: Ana
Sent from Dublin (Leinster/Laighin, Ireland), on 20.12.2017
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