Situated on forty acres in the heart of the city, Trinity College was founded in 1592 from the ruins of an ancient monastery. Samuel Beckett, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female President, have all walked its cobbled lanes. Even with 15,000 enrolled students rushing to class and hundreds of daily visitors snapping smartphone photos, the campus transports you back in time. Admittedly, the art gallery and geological museum are outshone by the Old Library (€11 – 14 entry), a mesmerizing collection of 200,000 books, several marble busts, a fifteenth century harp, and one of the few copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. It’s also home to the school’s most famous feature: Book of Kells, a medieval manuscript of the four gospels.
Time Out tip: Make some campus comrades to see the library exhibitions for free. Students and alumni get lifetime access and can take up to three friends with them.
Nearby:
Pavillion Bar: To share pints with Trinners on the university’s cricket field
The Oscar Wilde Memorial: For an aptly colourful depiction of one of Trinity’s most esteemed alum
Mama’s Revenge Burrito Hut: For grab-and-go Tex-Mex that won’t break the bank