Campanile (Trinity College Dublin)

The base has paired rusticated Doric pilasters with portland entablature blocks. Between each pillar of the base are four round-headed arches, and each archway has a keystone. These keystones each have detailed carved heads, which depict Homer, Socrates, Plato and Demosthenes - representing the liberal arts.

Before the belfry, is a stepped circular base made of granite. At the corners of the campanile, seated and supported by this circular base are the Higher Faculties represented in four deceptive figures of Divinity, Science, Medicine and Law sculpted from portland stone by Irish sculptor Thomas Kirk.[1]

The belfry is a cylindrical chamber encircled by Corinthian columns, between which are tall, round-head traceried windows with cast iron grills.

The base of the belfry also has four carved coats of arms at each side, almost directly above the carved keystone faces below. Each coat of arms faces out onto a prominent location in the college, and symbolize strong connections it had with external forces.[2]

These four coats of arms are those of:

• Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, from 1837. It faces onto Parliament Square.
• Trinity College Dublin, though a 19th-century variant, with the Lion Passant Guardian rather than simply Passant and the Castle towers are Flamant rather than domed. This is slightly different from the original of the college, and can also be seen on the Museum Building. It faces onto Library Square.
• Arms of Lord John Beresford, the second son of the first Marquess of Waterford, who was the Chancellor of the University. It faces onto Botany Bay.
• Archbishopric of Armagh, and impaled with those of Lord John Beresford. It faces onto Fellows’ Square.

Over the belfry are two domes which are covered in decorative scale-patterns. The first is the larger of the two and has carved scrollwork ribs that continue vertically from the columns of the belfry. The smaller dome sits directly above the larger, commonly referred to as a lantern rather than a dome. The entire campanile is then topped by a gilded cross.[1]