When James I first convened the Parliament of Ireland, the University of Dublin was given two MPs, elected by the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of Trinity College.
There was no new election for the First Parliament of the United Kingdom: for constituencies like the University of Dublin which were reduced to one MP, they were chosen by lot, in this instance, George Knox.
In the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, the university was given a second seat in Parliament, elected by plurality-at-large, and the franchise was extended to all those with a Master of Arts degree.
The right of election, which was originally vested solely in the provost, fellows, and scholars, has, by the same act, been extended to all members of the age of 21 years, who had obtained, or should hereafter obtain, a fellowship, scholarship, or the degree of Master of Arts, and whose names should be on the college books : members thus qualified, who had removed their names from the books, were allowed six months to restore them, on paying a fee of £2, and such as continued their names, merely to qualify them to vote, pay annually to the college the sum of £1, or a composition of £5 in lieu of annual payment.
During the period of the Union between Ireland and Great Britain, the constituency predominantly elected Tory, Conservative and Unionist MPs, including Edward Gibson, who was later (as Lord Ashbourne) responsible for the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885, and Edward Carson, who led the Irish Unionist Alliance.
Dublin University was represented in the House of Commons until the dissolution of Parliament on 26 October 1922, shortly before the establishment of the Irish Free State became a dominion on 6 December 1922.
The Parliament was formally dissolved as part of the arrangements under the Treaty and the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922.
Sinn Féin contested the 1918 Westminster election on the basis that they would not take seats in the United Kingdom Parliament but would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin.
The university was entitled to return two Teachtaí Dála (known in English as Deputies and abbreviated as TDs) in 1918 to serve in the Irish Republic's First Dáil.
In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland, including the two Unionist MPs from Dublin University, was a member of the First Dáil.
The University of Dublin was granted three seats, to be elected by single transferable vote by all graduates and scholars, regardless of sex, over the age of 21.
23) Act 1936, removed the provisions in Constitution of the Irish Free State for University representation in Dáil Éireann, with effect from the next dissolution of the Oireachtas, which took place on 14 June 1937.
The Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937 gave effect to the constitutional provision, and provided that they would be elected by single transferable vote.
[7] Most of the senators for the constituency have campaigned as Independents, though Mary Robinson and Ivana Bacik took the Labour Party whip for periods of their time in the Seanad.
A number of the senators have had a reputation as being quite socially liberal, including Owen Sheehy-Skeffington, Noël Browne, and Catherine McGuinness.
In 2011 Karin Dubsky, who was listed on the printed ballot papers, discovered after their distribution that she was not an Irish citizen and thus ineligible, and advised electors not to vote for her.