The founding charter also conferred a general power on the college to make provision for university functions to be carried out.

The project of establishing another college within the university was seriously considered on at least two occasions, but the required finance or endowment was never available.

Subsequently, in a remarkable High Court case of 1898, the provost, fellows and scholars of Trinity were the claimants and the chancellor, doctors and masters of the University of Dublin were among the defendants, and the court held that Trinity College and the University of Dublin "are one body".

While the Senate was formally constituted by the Letters Patent of 1857 as a body corporate under the name, style, and title of "The Chancellor, Doctors, and Masters of the University of Dublin", it had existed since soon after the foundation of Trinity College being brought into being by the enabling powers contained in the founding Charter.

The Letters Patent empowered the university senate by stating: "It shall be and shall continue to be a body corporate with a common seal, and shall have power under the said seal to do all such acts as may be lawful for it to do in conformity with the laws and statutes of the State and with the Charters and Statutes of the College.

However this is countered by the role of the visitors.Each meeting of the Senate is headed by a "caput", consisting of the chancellor, the provost of Trinity College and the senior master non-regent.

In attendance also are, usually, the registrar (who is responsible for legal and administrative matters) and the junior and senior proctors (who present undergraduate and postgraduate candidates for degree commencement ceremonies).

There is also a mace holder, the chief steward (responsible for college security) or his deputy, who proceeds the caput in a procession.

The meeting is held in public and can be attended by persons who are not members of the Senate, mostly relatives of people about to receive degrees, although, of course, only members of the Senate, wearing the correct academic dress participate in the formal business, and actually vote, save that general applause is encouraged when relevant.

Voting takes place to elect a senior master non regent, or on whether degrees should be conferred on named candidates.

As the lists of persons to receive degrees are voted on en bloc, and as the lists require the prior approval of the board, which itself receives the names of candidates as agreed by boards of examiners, it can be seen that the vote is purely formal, as it is difficult to see any practical circumstances in which it would be legitimate for a member of the Senate to attend a commencements and register an objection.

At the first public commencements of the academic year the senior master non-regent is elected on the proposition of the chancellor and the provost.

As business is conducted in Latin the Chief Steward verbally asks for candidates to be put under scrutiny by saying "ad scrutinum", with the Doctors and Masters of the Senate present then asked in turn as distinct groups to consent to the degree being awarded to the candidate.

Both discussion and voting takes place at these meetings, and propositions can be defeated, albeit, in practice, rarely.

They consist of the chancellor of the university and one other person, usually, in modern times, a member of the Judiciary, and whose appointment requires the approval of the Senate.

With the addition of elected representatives to the board, and the constitution of the council, which was largely elected from the start, issues which might once have been the subject of heated debate at a business meeting of the Senate are now decided elsewhere, with controversy mostly exhausted by the time an issue gets to the Senate for final determination.

Mary McAleese is the current chancellor of the university, its titular head, and there are six pro-chancellors, who can act in her place.

There are detailed rules for this, consisting of statutes proposed by the board and agreed by the Senate at a business meeting, with entitlement to the MA being based on years of service.

Consequently, all the staff of the college after serving a qualifying period, can expect to receive the degree and so be able to enjoy membership of the Senate.

(The practical significance of this is that the tendency for the great majority of participants in Senate business meetings to be members of staff of the college is reinforced.)

Decisions on admissions to undergraduate courses are made by the Academic Registry who instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates.

[29] In order to be considered for admission, all applicants must first reach the university's minimal matriculation requirements, which typically involves holding sufficient recognised qualifications in English, Mathematics and a second language, however, the Mathematics requirement can be waived if Latin is presented as a second language.

[30] Eligible applicants must then compete for places based on the results of their school leaving examinations, however, applicants can additionally take matriculation examinations[31] which are held in the university in April, in which each subject is considered equivalent to that of the Irish Leaving Certificate.

As applications for most courses far exceeds available places, admission is highly selective, demanding excellent grades in the aforementioned examinations.

Through the CAO, candidates may list several courses at Trinity College and at other third-level institutions in Ireland in order of preference.

[citation needed] Disadvantaged, disabled, or mature students can also be admitted through a program that is separate from the CAO, the Trinity Access Programme,[35] which aims to facilitate the entry of sectors of society which would otherwise be under-represented.

The university has been represented since 1613 when King James I granted it the right to elect two members of parliament (MPs) to the Irish House of Commons.

These were the only MPs to attend the opening of the House in 1921 since Sinn Féin candidates in the twenty-six counties were returned unopposed and took the other 128 of the 132 seats.