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History

While Political Science has been taught at Trinity College since 1855, the Department of Political Science itself seems not to have been formally founded until the introduction of a faculty system in Trinity in the late 1960s – the precise date when this reorganisation took effect was 13 July 1969. However, Patrick Keatinge, in his short overview of the history of the department (originally published in the Bulletin of the PSAI in 1987), identifies the academic year 1959–60 as the de facto establishment of the department as such, given Basil Chubb's elevation to a newly-created Chair in Political Science together with a second full-time appointment, that of David Thornley as a Junior Lecturer as from 21 December 1959. For more, click on the links below.