Editing Trinity College Dublin (section)

===First 50 years===
[[File:KellsFol007vMadonnaChild.jpg|thumb|The [[Book of Kells]] is the most famous of the volumes in the Trinity College Library. Shown here are the Madonna and Child from Kells (folio 7v).]]

A [[medieval University of Dublin]] was founded in 1320 under a papal brief issued by [[Pope Clement V]] in 1311,<ref>London: Newman, Cardinal Henry; The Rise and Progress of Universities, Chapter 17 (The Ancient University of Dublin), 207–212</ref> and the university maintained an intermittent existence at [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|St. Patrick's Cathedral]] over the following centuries, but it did not flourish and finally came to an end during the [[Reformation in Ireland|Reformation]] period. After that, and some debate about a new university at St. Patrick's Cathedral, in 1592 a small group of Dublin citizens obtained a charter by way of [[letters patent]] from Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]],<ref group="Note" name=letterspatent>
Extracts from Letters Patent ("First or Foundation Charter") of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and establish a College, mother of a (the) University, near the town of Dublin for the better education, training and instruction of Anglo-Protestant scholars and students in our realm...and also that provision should be made...for the relief and support of a provost and some fellows and scholars...it shall be called THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY NEAR DUBLIN FOUNDED BY THE MOST SERENE QUEEN ELIZABETH."</ref> incorporating Trinity College at the former site of the disbanded Augustinian [[Priory of All Hallows]], immediately southeast of the city walls, provided by the [[Dublin Corporation|Corporation of Dublin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcd.ie/info/trinity/history/ |title=Trinity Information – About Trinity College – History of Trinity College |website=The University of Dublin |access-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213221501/http://www.tcd.ie/info/trinity/history/ |archive-date=13 December 2007}}</ref>

The college's first provost was the [[Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Archbishop of Dublin]], [[Adam Loftus (Archbishop)|Adam Loftus]] (after whose former college at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] the institution was named),<ref name="Breaking down Trinity's shield"/> and he was provided with two initial Fellows, [[James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye|James Hamilton]] and [[James Fullerton (courtier)|James Fullerton]]. Two years after the foundation, a few Fellows and students began to work in the new college, which then lay around one small square.<ref name=":2" />

During the initial 50 years following the foundation, the community increased the endowments, considerable landed estates were secured, and new fellowships and academic chairs were established.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxlkQgAACAAJ|title=Trinity College Dublin, the First 400 Years|first1=John |last1=Victor Luce |publisher=Trinity College Dublin Press|year=1992|location=Dublin|isbn=978-1-871408-06-5 }}</ref> The books which formed the foundation of the great library were acquired, either by private purchase or donations, a curriculum was devised, and statutes were framed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.in/Trinity-College-Library-Dublin-History-ebook/dp/B00J8LQMZE|title=Trinity College Library Dublin: A History|first1=Peter|last1=Fox|location=Dublin|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>