COLLEGE GREEN.
The ground at present known as College Green was once the site of a considerable village outside the walls of the City of Dublin, known as Hog or Hogges.[142] A convent for nuns of the rule of St. Augustine was founded on les Hogges in 1146 by Dermot MacMurchard, King of Leinster, and the open space obtained the name of Hoggen Green.[143] How the nunnery of St. Mary atte Hogge was dissolved, and the buildings granted to the citizens of Dublin in 1534; how it was proposed to turn the buildings into a jail or bridewell; how, in consequence of some dispute with the builder, the property was handed over to the University, and became a second College or High School under the name of Trinity Hall; and how at length, in 1667, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Stearne, the President, Trinity Hall was converted into the College of Physicians of Ireland, is all very interesting, but it is quite outside the scope of the present chapter. The modern Trinity Street marks the site of Trinity Hall, which was only demolished about the year 1700. Hogges Gate, the eastern gate of the City of Dublin opening upon Hoggen Green, facing the College, and standing somewhere near the site of the modern Forster Place, was removed in 1663 as being not only useless, but ruinous. The equestrian statue of King William III., that is now so prominent a feature of College Green, was erected by the Corporation of Dublin, and unveiled with great pomp on the 1st of July, 1801. The figure of Henry Grattan was executed by J. H. Foley, R.A., an Irish artist, and placed in its present position in January, 1876. The fine bronze statues of Edmund Burke and Oliver Goldsmith, truly distinguished students of Trinity College, which are also the work of Foley, stand within the College railings on either side of the Grand Entrance. That of Goldsmith was placed in its present position in January, 1864; and that of Burke in April, 1868. They are both admirable. The statue of Goldsmith especially is one of the finest, if not the finest work of the sculptor.