TRINITY COLLEGE HAS renamed its main library after poet Eavan Boland – but it does not have permission to put her name on the front of the building yet.

The Eavan Boland Library is the first on-campus building in Trinity’s 433-year history to be named after a woman.

An official ceremony today marked the renaming of one of the main libraries at the university – formerly named after a supporter of slavery – in honour of the internationally acclaimed Irish poet.

Previously known as the Berkeley Library (named after George Berkeley), it was denamed in April 2023 because the Irish philosopher was found to be a slave owner, as well as “an apologist for slavery”.

A spokeswoman for Trinity confirmed that Boland’s name is not yet on the outside of the building at the main door where Berkeley’s once hung.

The spokeswoman told The Journal the 1967 brutalist building is a protected structure and the college has not yet received the permission it needs from Dublin City Council to erect the sign – but decided to go ahead with today’s celebrations all the same.

The library’s new name will be in the same place as the sign that once read “The Berkeley Library” once was, near Arnoldo Pomodoro’s Sphere within Sphere sculpture.

A small plaque inside the building was unveiled today.

In February last year, a debate was held by the Trinity’s College Historical Society (the Hist) over what the library should be renamed. Suggestions included Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, the Freedom Library and Eavan Boland.

The decision was eventually made to name the building ‘The Eavan Boland Library’ by the University Board in October.

Eavan Boland, who died in 2020, was one of the foremost women in Irish literature, publishing many collections of poetry, as well as teaching and lecturing in Ireland and in the US.

Her poetry has been widely acclaimed for foregrounding women’s experience in Irish poetry, moving women from the position of object to that of subject.

Sarah Casey, Eavan’s daughter, said that Trinity College “was a very special place” for her mother.

“She always regarded herself as a teaching poet. She would have loved the idea that future generations of Trinity students will now be walking into a building carrying her name,” Sarah said. 

In a special event this evening, the naming of the Eavan Boland Library will be celebrated by Mary McAleese (currently serving as Trinity’s Chancellor), poet Paula Meehan and an audience of Eavan Boland’s family and friends, Trinity staff and students.

Additional reporting by Valerie Flynn