A ceremony announcing Trinity College Dublin’s new Fellows and Scholars was held in-person on Monday for the first time in three years.
To become a Scholar, second year students sit extra exams in January, and they must obtain a first-class honour grade. The students study independently for these tests, which cover more than the standard end-of-year exams.
This year’s Scholars come from a broad range of disciplines, including Nursing, Drama, Engineering and Law. Each Scholar is entitled to a range of benefits, including free accommodation on campus, an annual salary of €254, and they have their college fees waived.
Fellowships are awarded to those showing excellence in research and to acknowledge a professor’s contribution to academic life and teaching in the college.
In total, 51 new Scholars, 31 new Fellows, five new Professorial Fellows and two Honorary Fellows were announced.
The first Honorary Fellow is Sebastian Barry, an internationally renowned author and Trinity graduate.
He read English and Latin from 1973 to 1977 and served as Writer Fellow in 1995 and 1996.
He began his career writing fiction and poetry, but he came to prominence as a dramatist with a series of plays, mostly staged at the Abbey Theatre.
He is now best known for his novels. The Secret Scripture, released in 2008, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the James Black Tait Memorial Prize in 2009.
The second Honorary Fellow is Máirín Nic Eoin, a world-leading scholar of modern Irish language literature.
She is Professor Emerita of Irish in DCU. She is also the author of many seminally important works, including three monographs, An Litríocht Réigiúnach in 1982, B’ait Leo Bean in 1998 and Trén Bhfearann Breac in 2005, which are milestones in modern Irish literary criticism.
Provost Dr Linda Doyle stood on the steps of the Public Theatre in Trinity’s Front Square to read out the names of the Scholars and Fellows, as is traditional.
She congratulated the students and researchers for their achievement. “We know how much hard work has gone into achieving this and we commend you for it.”
She also said the college was proud of everyone who put their names forward for Fellowship and everyone who sat the demanding Scholarship exams.