Trinity has been seen on screen plenty of times through the years, with the campus serving as a backdrop in several series and films in ways you might not expect.
Michael Collins [1996]
- 1937 Reading Room
This one is a bit unexpected, since the 1937 Reading Room (or Postgraduate Library) wasn’t playing itself when it featured in this historic drama around Ireland’s struggle for independence. The reading room acted as the location of the first Dáil meeting, where Collins delivered a speech on the proposed Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921.
In reality, this meeting took place at Mansion House, the home of the Lord Mayor of Dublin today. Unfortunately only postgraduate students can access the 1937 Reading Room, so if you want to take a look you should either find someone with the right keycard or start pitching another movie.
Normal People [2020]
- Front Square, the Rubrics, the Arts Block (and everywhere else)
Who would have thought this would make the list? When this series first came out in 2020, application rates to Trinity went up by 11%, and up to today anyone studying English has to keep their guard up about their reasoning for choosing the course.
Since the main part of the storyline follows the characters’ time as Trinity students, many of the places you’d see in real life are shown on screen, but some have been slightly tweaked to suit the story – for example, first-year students don’t live on-campus like some of the main characters do.
Educating Rita [1983]
- Graduate Memorial Building (GMB)
This film follows Rita, a working-class woman that wants to improve her life by getting an education. She decides to take an English literature course at a university, which is where Trinity comes in. Although the film is set in England, most of the scenes on and off campus are in Dublin (with red phone boxes added in).
The Historical Society and Philosophical Society rooms in the Graduate Memorial Building were used as classrooms and offices, and you can get a look at Front Square’s (darker) buildings before the effects of decades of coal smoke and pollution were cleaned up in the 1990s.
Foundation [2021]
- Old Library
This is another case of Trinity’s campus playing a different role than in real life. Foundation is a sci-fi series, and the Old Library was used as the reading room in the imperial capital of Trantor. This is probably the first time the campus was filmed as an off-planet location.
Ek Tha Tiger (Once There Was a Tiger) [2012]
- Front Square
This Bollywood movie was one of the first to use Trinity as a filming location in almost 20 years.
The plot follows a spy that is dispatched from India to Ireland to follow the activities of an Indian professor at Trinity that has been researching nuclear technology.
The story also includes a high-speed Luas chase and an extravagant dance sequence with over 50 people on Front Square, so what’s not to like?
The Blue Max [1966]
- Front Square, Chapel
This is a World War I movie that was filmed entirely in Ireland but is set in Germany and France. The main character is a German fighter pilot, and the ‘Blue Max’ is an award that pilots receive after 20 kills. Trinity doesn’t have much to do with any of this, but Front Square is used as a stand-in for a Berlin street and the Chapel is used as a German military headquarters!
