Sic luceat lux vestra, goes the motto of University Hall - let your light shine thus. For the Jesuit-owned student residence on Dublin's Hatch Street, the light finally goes out tomorrow, when the hall closes permanently as a result of dwindling Jesuit recruits, the unthinkable cost of renovation, and competition from live-in accommodation on college campuses: for example, Brendan Glacken writes, Trinity College's new halls of residence in Dartry, when completed, will accommodate 1,000 students.
University Hall has been in operation since 1913, and it is no exaggeration to say that its closure and subsequent sale will mark the end of an era. Its golden jubilee celebrations in 1963 were attended by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, along with other luminaries of Church and State, and were of such pomp and ceremony that they have since been described as "the last great event of what some might call the Church triumphant".
The history of University Hall is woven into the history of UCD and its ethos derived in part from the vision of Cardinal Newman, who believed that it in terms of education it was even more important for university students to live together, learning from each other, than to have lectures and lecturers. This was a foresighted view: a recent US study showed that college students who share rooms turn in better academic performances than those who room alone. "For University Hall students," says the current principal John Looby SJ, "it has been a shared life - that's where the real influence takes place. It's not a bed and breakfast." Instead, life at University Hall has revolved around what Paul Andrews SJ calls "table fellowship".
The man behind University Hall was the Rev William Delany SJ, who retired as President of UCD when it became part of the National University of Ireland. Well into his seventies by that time, he felt one task remained to him - the creation of a Catholic student hall of residence. Much of the cash came as a result of the will made by Charles Kennedy JP, a wealthy merchant living at Mount Anville House in Dundrum. Kennedy left everything to Father John Conmee, a friend and colleague of Father Delany, and rector of Clongowes College during James Joyce's time there.
Even in the early days of UCD, when it was the Catholic University based in what is now Newman House on St Stephen's Green, the Jesuits took in residential college students at Winton House - now part of the Fitzwilliam sports club. And when UCD had 800 students in Earlsfort Terrace, 80 of them (all male, of course) lived just around the corner in University Hall. Though rather dated in appearance now, the redbrick building of Gothic appearance has some remarkable treasures, not least its beautiful chapel with five stained-glass windows by Evie Hone.
"Hatch Hall", as it was known to generations of students, had its own student captain and committee who quite sensibly devoted themselves principally to ways of meeting women. Relations with female halls of residence were a large part of the agenda, as can be confirmed by many past residents of Loreto Hall on the Green, and the Sacred Heart Hall on Leeson Street. In terms of creating opportunities to meet ladies - which most of them were - from these residences, the establishment of the University Hall Debating Society was a stroke of genius.
Motions put at the UHDS in the late 1930s included: "That Ireland's destiny can be sought outside the British Commonwealth of Nations" (lost); and: "That this House pledges itself to support the Monarchist Party of Ireland" (carried). There was room for levity too. Private members' time at the society included the motions: "That [a named student] be condemned for a lack of discerning taste in beauty in his choice of girls"; "That Mr Caffrey be kept from Loreto Hall"; and "That Mr. Colman be restrained from associating with a lady called Gertie". The heyday of the UHDS was the 1950s and chairmen of debates during those years included the likes of Donal Barrington, Louis McRedmond, R. Dudley Edwards, Denis O'Donoghue, Ulick O'Connor and Des O'Malley - a former auditor of the society. Among past residents of the hall are Michael O'Leary, Dermot Weld and Brian Cowen.
University Hall's most famous principal was undoubtedly the late Jack Brennan SJ, who looked after the residence for 21 years in all. A man of formidable intellect and physical size, he made an unforgettable impression on all who knew him. Many stories are told of Jack Brennan, not all repeatable, and one involves him solving the problem of late-night student noise in the residence by joining the noise-makers in their room for a friendly chat which lasted four hours. It is believed there was no subsequent offence. Father Brennan's indispensable aide, indeed his only one, was the legendary "factotum" or porter Seamus MacManus - Keeper of the Keys, as we knew him. It was to Seamus one proceeded on Saturday night to borrow one of the vast iron door keys, the weight of which told ever more heavily on the pocket as the night went on. No matter what time one arrived home, or what condition one was in, Seamus inevitably popped up to take silent note. He was philosopher (with Stoic tendencies) and friend to many. There were those who claimed he never slept though, sad to say, like Jack Brennan, he sleeps forever now. Sic luceat lux vestra.