At almost one hundred feet tall, the Campanile (bell tower) has become one of the most iconic images of Trinity College and Dublin and is frequently used in an illustrative fashion to represent Trinity College. Any paraphernalia surrounding Trinity more often than not features a photograph or sketch of the Campanile. As an entity unto itself it is an attractive and imposing sight. The architect Sir Charles Lanyon used cast-iron, Portland stone and a sizable amount of granite to create this treat for the eyes. John Casey (1820-1891), mathematician and former student of Trinity, when speaking of the belfry maintained it to be, 'a cylindrical chamber encircled by engaged Corinthian columns and pierced by tall round-headed openings with cast-iron traceried grilles', a precise description indeed. The four figures at the base sculpted by Thomas Kirk represent Divinity (seen holding a cross), Medicine, Law and Science - the four leading academic divisions at the time the college was founded in tandem with a pious faith it looked to uphold. As you enter Trinity through Front Arch even so much as the first peep of the Campanile truly enlivens the senses as it elegantly stands to almost regulate the frenzied goings-on in Front Square.
NB/ You won't see many Trinity College students walk under the Campanile as legend has it that if you walk underneath before you have sat your final exams you will fail your degree. read more