Trinity College Dublin to remove slave owner’s name from library

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Trinity College Dublin has decided to remove the name of a slave owner from its largest library.

First opened in 1967, the Berkeley Library was named after philosopher George Berkeley in 1978.

The institution said Berkeley, a former librarian at the university, published “some of his most important philosophical works” while at Trinity in the 1700s.

“He bought slaves, named Philip, Anthony, Edward, and Agnes Berkeley, to work on his Rhode Island estate in 1730-31 and sought to advance ideology in support of slavery,” the university added in a statement.

The university’s board made the decision following several months of research and public consultation overseen by the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group.

It decided the continued use of Berkeley’s name is “inconsistent” with the university’s core values of human dignity, freedom, inclusivity and equality.

“The denaming does not deny Berkeley’s importance as a writer, philosopher, and towering intellectual figure. His philosophical work will still be taught at Trinity and remains of significant contemporary relevance.

“A separate process will determine what the new name for the library should be.”

The university will adopt a “retain-and-explain” approach to a stained-glass window commemorating Berkeley.

Trinity Provost Dr Linda Doyle said the landscape of the university is “not static”.

“Each generation of students and staff deserves a chance to influence decisions.

“In this case, it was our students who called on us to address the issue.”

She added: “George Berkeley’s enormous contribution to philosophical thought is not in question.

“However, it is also clear that he was both an owner of enslaved people and a theorist of slavery and racial discrimination, which is in clear conflict with Trinity’s core values.”

Librarian and college archivist Helen Shenton said another name change is an opportunity to be creative and imaginative.

“Trinity will continue to hold George Berkeley’s philosophical works in the library collections and continue to teach and to research his works,” she said.

Portraits depicting Berkeley will be assessed in the future by a new overall university policy on artwork, while the academic Gold Medals memorialising Berkeley will be reviewed by the relevant academic department.