Summer 2023—Page 31

Summer 2023There were 13 submissions received, including a petition signed by the vast majority of the Inishbofin Islanders requesting that the crania be returned and reburial proposed in the modern cemetery adjoining the monastic site. The majority of the other submissions also sought the return of the crania to St Colman’s Monastery in Inishbofin, but many also recommended further consultation and engagement with relevant statutory bodies. On the 22 February 2023, the Board of Trinity agreed to return human remains to the island of Inishbofin, from where they were taken without the community’s consent more than a century ago. There is ongoing engagement with the Inishbofin community to identify the most appropriate way of returning the crania. Memorialisation of Bishop George Berkeley, DD As a result of a campaign by the Trinity College Dublin Students Union (TCDSU), who highlighted that Bishop Berkeley was a slave owner, the memorialisation of Bishop George Berkeley, DD, in Trinity was explored by the TLRWG. In the first phase of review, the TLRWG commissioned a detailed evidence review on Bishop George Berkeley DD from Dr Patrick Walsh, Dr Mobeen Hussain and Dr Ciaran O’Neill from the Department of History in the School of Histories and Humanities. In early December 2022 the TLRWG opened up a call for evidence-based submissions from members of the college community as well as the wider public as part of its consultative process. Upon the closure of the submission window on 31 January 2023 there were 93 submissions, and the submissions, as well as the evidence review, can be found at https://www.tcd.ie/seniordean/legacies/ . The New Library Opened in 1967, and was renamed in 1978 after George Berkeley, the world-renowned philosopher and former Librarian at Trinity. Berkeley published some of his most important philosophical works while at Trinity in the 1700s. Following a period of reflection and discussion by the TLRWG, the options in relation to the Library were narrowed to; either retain and explain or de-name followed by re-name. There were 93 submissions received from the public call which largely addressed the Library rather than other memorialisation’s of Berkeley in college, and the majority argued for the Berkeley Library to be de-named and re-named; there was also a general consensus within the TLRWG that this was their preferred option. Significantly, the Working Group also stated emphatically that their preferred option was not about ‘cancelling’ Berkeley as a writer, philosopher and intellectual historical figure, and that his work should still be taught at Trinity and that it is still relevant to modern academia. In April, the Board of Trinity College, following discussion of a memo on the matter from the TLRWG, decided that the continued use of the Berkeley name on its Library building was inconsistent with the university’s core values of human dignity, freedom, inclusivity and equality. A separate process will determine what the new name for the Library should be. The Trinity Legacies Review Working Group will continue to engage with Trinity’s legacy issues on a case-by-case basis. … their preferred option was not about ‘cancelling’ Berkeley as a writer, philosopher & intellectual historical figure Bishop George BerkeleyPage 30Page 32