Oscar Wilde at Trinity

Since it was founded in 1592, Trinity College has seen its fair share of notable individuals pass through Front Arch. Trinity’s most famous alumni range from the likes of Samuel Beckett and Jonathan Swift, to Michael O’Leary and David McWilliams. One of the most recognised and influential of these alumni is the great playwright, novelist and poet, Oscar Wilde.

Since it was founded in 1592, Trinity College has seen its fair share of notable individuals pass through Front Arch. Trinity’s most famous alumni range from the likes of Samuel Beckett and Jonathan Swift, to Michael O’Leary and David McWilliams. One of the most recognised and influential of these alumni is the great playwright, novelist and poet, Oscar Wilde.

During September 1871, Wilde began his four years stint in Trinity College. At the time, Trinity was a world leader in the field of Classics, a fact that appealed to Wilde given his aptitude for this area. In his time there, he would encounter other scholars such as R. Y. Tyrell, Arthur Palmer and Edward Dowden.

Wilde’s time at Trinity also connected him with his tutor, J.P. Mahaffy, who inspired Wilde’s love of Greek. This was one of the most influential relationships formed by Wilde during this time. As an undergraduate, Mahaffy became President of the University Philosophical Society, otherwise known as The Phil, and later went on to become Provost of the College. Conversations between Wilde and Mahaffy are said to have been colourful, with the two often discussing topics such as homosexuality in Ancient Greece. Wilde was arguably a protégée of Mahaffy, describing him as his “first and greatest teacher”. Mahaffy himself boasted of having “created” Wilde.

The Phil played a significant role in Wilde’s time at Trinity, providing him with an educational resource as well as a social outlet. It was here that he presented one of his first papers, entitled Aesthetic Morality. The more light-hearted and witty side of Wilde’s personality can also be seen in his interaction with this society, with the members’ suggestion book for 1874 containing two pages which sportingly mock his emergent aestheticism.

However, Wilde’s involvement in Trinity went far beyond his relationship with Mahaffy and his involvement with The Phil. He was awarded many honours during his time, including the Berkeley Gold Medal, the University’s highest academic award in Greek. He also came top of the class in his first year, and after sitting the Foundation Scholarship Examinations in his second year, was successfully awarded the title of a scholar.

As his four years at Trinity drew to a close, Wilde wished to continue his studies of Classics and Greek. Encouraged by his peers and teachers at Trinity to compete for a demyship (a type of scholarship) to Magdalen College, Oxford, he was unsurprisingly successful in procuring this; such was the extent of his talent for these subjects. He went on to study at the College from 1874 until 1878.