[4] UCD originates in a body founded in 1854, which opened as the Catholic University of Ireland on the feast of St. Malachy with John Henry Newman as its first rector; it re-formed in 1880 and chartered in its own right in 1908.

A report published in May 2015 asserted that the economic output generated by UCD and its students in Ireland amounted to €1.3 billion annually.

[16] As a result of these efforts, a new "Catholic University of Ireland" opened in 1854 on St Stephen's Green, with John Henry Newman appointed as its first rector.

Some notable staff and students at the school during this period included Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Patrick Pearse, Hugh Kennedy, Hannah O'Leary, Eoin MacNeill, Kevin O'Higgins, Tom Kettle, James Ryan, Douglas Hyde and John A. Costello.

[21] Following the establishment of the NUI, D. J. Coffey, Professor of Physiology, Catholic University Medical School, became the first president of UCD.

It was later decided that the best solution would be to move the college to a larger greenfield site outside of the city centre and create a modern campus university.

[29] The Belfield campus developed into a complex of modern buildings and inherited Georgian townhouses, accommodating the colleges of the university as well as its student residences and many leisure and sporting facilities.

[citation needed] In 1964, Jeremiah Hogan was appointed president and Thomas E. Nevin led the science faculty to move to a new campus at Belfield.

[53] In 2019, UCD became the first Irish university to launch a Black Studies module, coordinated by Dr Ebun Joseph and Prof Kathleen Lynch.

[54] In March 2022 Prof Andrew Deeks resigned to take up the role of vice-Chancellor at Murdoch University, in Perth, Western Australia.

It is located in a three-story building on the Belfield campus and is named after Lochlann Quinn, one of the main financial contributors to the school.

Other donors included Bank of Ireland, AIB, Irish Life & Permanent, Accenture, KPMG, PwC, Dunnes Stores and Ernst & Young.

[61] At the beginning of the 2005/2006 academic year, UCD introduced the Horizons curriculum,[62] which completely semesterised and modularised all undergraduate courses.

UCD competes in the most popular Irish field sports of Gaelic Games, Hurling, Soccer and Rugby Union.

The Sportscenter was added to in 2012 with the competition of an Olympic-size swimming pool, a tepidarium and a revamped fitness center as part of the re-development of the UCD Student Centre.

[citation needed] UCD's "flagship instrumental ensemble", the University College Dublin Symphony Orchestra, was celebrating its 20th anniversary season as of 2022/2023.

[citation needed] The main sections within the paper are campus, national and international news, comment, opinion and sport.

Each issue is also accompanied by an arts and culture supplement called O-Two, with music interviews, travel, fashion and colour pieces.

The paper supports itself financially through commercial advertising in its print edition, and maintains editorial independence from both university authorities and the Students' Union.

[citation needed] College Tribune sections include news, sport, features, arts, film and entertainment, music, fashion, business, and politics & innovation.

The station is independently run by the UCD Broadcasting Society and has produced well known Irish radio presenters such as Ryan Tubridy and Rick O'Shea (of RTÉ fame) and Barry Dunne of 98FM.

As well as former president Douglas Hyde and Pádraig Pearse, UCD Professor Eóin MacNeill had a key role in the Gaelic revival in Ireland.

Dee Forbes, Director General RTÉ and Miriam O'Callaghan, presenter of RTÉ's leading current affairs show, Prime Time, are alumni, as are comedians Dermot Morgan (1952–1998) and Dara Ó Briain who were major figures in the university's debating scene for many years, and Foil Arms and Hog[117] who met at the Drama Society (Dramsoc).

UCD has produced a number of notable athletes, including in field sports such as Gaelic games and rugby union.

Notable GAA athletes include Rena Buckley, one of the most decorated players in GAA history, having won a total of 17 All-Ireland senior medals; Seán Murphy, a medical school graduate and member of the Gaelic Football Team of the Millennium; and Nicky Rackard, included in the Hurling Team of the Century.

Amongst the number of humanitarians to attend are John O'Shea founder of GOAL and Tom Arnold the CEO of Concern Worldwide.

[119] James Joyce's novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is partially set in UCD (when it was sited on Earlsfort Terrace) where Stephen Dedalus (now the name of the IT building) is enrolled as a student.

Flann O'Brien's novel At Swim-Two-Birds features a UCD student who writes a meta-novel wherein the author is put on trial by the characters of his novel.

Christy Moore wrote a tongue in cheek song about UCD's Literary and Historical Society called "The Auditor of the L and H".

[citation needed] In Boston Legal, Season 2, Episode 21 "Word Salad Day", there is a reference to a fictional study from University College Dublin that "found that the effects of divorce on children are far more damaging than the death of a parent".