Admission had been restricted to members of the established Anglican Church of Ireland till the Catholic Relief Act 1793.
The secular Queen's University of Ireland had been founded in 1845–50 with colleges in Belfast, Cork, and Galway.
All religious requirements for students and faculty in all colleges would be abolished.
Trinity College's Theology faculty would be detached and removed to the control of the Church of Ireland.
[1] The abolition of the Anglican test oath for Dublin University and Trinity College, except in the School of Divinity, was affected by the University of Dublin Tests Act 1873 (An Act to abolish Tests in Trinity College and the University of Dublin; 36 & 37 Vict.