‘The Best Poet’: William Dunkin and Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College Dublin can claim many distinguished poets among its alumni. One, less well-remembered than he deserves, is the poet and schoolmaster William Dunkin, who produced a large corpus of poetry between the 1720s and his death in 1765. From his early years until his death, he was supported financially by the College, out of the rents that it received from estates in County Louth that had been left to the College by his grand-aunt Anne Echlin, on condition that it support and educate him. Dunkin believed that these lands were his birthright and should have been left to him. The early part of this article begins with a summary of the record of Trinity College as alma mater of poets writing in English before about 1900, followed by an exploration of William Dunkin’s poetical achievements. The later part explores the origins and functioning of Mrs Echlin’s legacy, and its consequences – for Dunkin over his lifetime, and for the College.