Richard MacDonnell

Richard MacDonnell was born in Cork; his father was described as a carrier.¹ He was elected Scholar in 1803 and Fellow in 1808.  He chose one of the lay Fellowships and for a while practised at the Bar. Later he was ordained.  In 1828 he wrote a critical pamphlet on the College examinations; it proposed various reforms which were later adopted. He gave support to Provost Bartholomew Lloyd’s reforms, and was an efficient Bursar from 1838 to 1846. Already in his mid-sixties when appointed Provost on 24 January 1852, he served for fifteen years until his death on the same date in 1867.²

Painting Details

By Stephen Catterson Smith, the elder
Oil on canvas

1. Anne Crookshank and David Webb, Paintings and Sculptures in Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, 1990), p. 91.
2. J.V. Luce, Trinity College Dublin, The First 400 Years (Dublin, 1992), p. 99.