College Historical Society

College Historical Society
Founded1770[1]
TypeStudent debating union
Location
Auditor 255th Session
Tom Francis [2]
President
Mary Harney (2024)[3]
WebsiteTheHist.com

The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770[1][4] and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund Burke during his own time in Trinity in 1747.[5][6] It holds the Guinness World Record as the "world's oldest student society".[7][8][9]

The society occupies rooms in the Graduates' Memorial Building at Trinity College. Former members have included a number of notable Irish men and women, from republican revolutionaries Theobald Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet,[10] and Henry Grattan,[11] writers Bram Stoker,[1] Oscar Wilde,[1] and Samuel Beckett,[1] to founding father of the Northern Irish state Edward Carson[12] and first President of Ireland Douglas Hyde,[13] and – in more recent times – Government Ministers like Mary Harney[1] (who was the first female auditor of the society) and Brian Lenihan, and modern Irish authors, such as Sally Rooney[1] and Naoise Dolan.[14]

As of 2024, the College Historical Society were reigning champions of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC).[15]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Geoghegan, Patrick (16 February 2020). "'The Hist': 250 years of self-indulgent theatrics and transformative debate". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Committee for the 255th Session". 2 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Mary Harney becomes first female president of Trinity's Hist". tcd.ie. 8 March 2024.
  4. ^ various 1892, p. 85,126-127.
  5. ^ Ahern, Bertie (22 October 2008). "Speech to the Trinity College Historical Society". BertieAhernOffice.org. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ various 1892, p. 253.
  7. ^ Omorodion, Sylvia (18 September 2023). "Trinity's Hist recognised by Guinness World Records as oldest student society". The Irish Independent. Mediahuis. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  8. ^ "The Hist declared world's oldest student society". Trinity College Dublin. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  9. ^ Wilson, James (18 September 2023). "Guiness Book of World Records: Trinity officially has oldest student society". Newstalk. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  10. ^ Geoghegan, Patrick. "Robert Emmet: Trinity Monday Discourse" (PDF). TCD. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  11. ^ Frazer, William. "The Medallists of Ireland and Their Work". Jstor. JSTOR 25506432.
  12. ^ Deeny, Donnell. "Historical Society launches Hist250 celebrations". TCD.
  13. ^ Robinson, Mary. "Douglas Hyde (1860-1949). The Trinity Connection. Quatercentenary Discourse: Pavilion, College Park, Trinity College Dublin". Jstor. JSTOR 23046511.
  14. ^ The Hist. "Naoise Dolan Speaks Against Impeaching Tom Lenihan at the Hist". YouTube. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Hist debaters victorious at European University Debating Championships". Trinity News. 26 August 2024.