§ MR. LONSDALE (Armagh, Mid.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Irish Society nominates the professor of Irish in Trinity College, Dublin, and pays his
† See Col. 350.1382 salary, or whether the professor is subject to the jurisdiction of the board of the college in the same manner as all other professors.(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Irish Government have no official information upon this subject, but the Question has been referred to the Provost of Trinity College, who states that in the year 1840 a number of gentlemen connected with the Irish Society subscribed a sum of money to aid in the foundation of a pro fessorship of Irish in the university, but the society, as such, had no part in the foundation of the chair. The then board of Trinity College, in agreeing to this foundation, undertook to pay annually the difference between the interest of this sum and £100 a year, to provide for the-study of the Irish language, pending the further collection of funds for the endowment of the chair. Public subscriptions raised the fund to a figure which when invested in Bank of Ireland stock gives on an average £100 a year. In the year 1871, by a decree of the board and visitors, the salary paid by the college itself was raised to £100 a year, so that the total salary of the professor is about £200. The funds subscribed by the public are invested in the names of the provost and fellows of Trinity College and the professor of Irish, and the election of the professor is vested in the trustees, who at present are the provost and the two Parliamentary representatives of the university ex officio together with Lord Ashbourne and Lord Ardilaum, who were co-opted some years ago by the then ex officio trustees under powers given to them by the deed of trust. These two latter trustees have never taken any action in connection with the chair. The professor, like other professors, is subject to the jurisdiction of the board, and no other body has any authority or jurisdiction over him.