College Historical Society

The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund Burke during his own time in Trinity in 1747. It holds the Guinness World Record as the "world's oldest student society".

The society occupies rooms in the Graduates' Memorial Building at Trinity College. Former members have included a number of notable Irish men and women, from republican revolutionaries Theobald Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, and Henry Grattan, writers Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Samuel Beckett, to founding father of the Northern Irish state Edward Carson and first President of Ireland Douglas Hyde, and – in more recent times – Government Ministers like Mary Harney (who was the first female auditor of the society) and Brian Lenihan, and modern Irish authors, such as Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.

Richard Dawkins

In September 2020, it was reported that the society had cancelled an invitation for the author and evolutionist Richard Dawkins to address the society. In announcing the cancellation, the then auditor of the society said she had been unaware Richard Dawkins held some controversial opinions, and that the society would be rescinding his invitation as we "value our members comfort above all else"

Toxic Masculinity

On 25 September 2025 The Hist will host a debate entitled Masculinity is inherently toxic.

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