GAA clubs to statues: should we reconsider who we memorialise?

On the grounds of Trinity College Dublin is a physical version of something most of us only ever see on digital screens: a redaction. A long black rectangle has been placed over the words 'The Berkeley Library.'

It was installed on foot of a decision by TCD to ‘dename’ the library – the largest in the university – which was named in 1978 after George Berkeley.

Berkeley is a world-renowned philosopher and was a librarian at TCD in the 1700s. He published some of his most important philosophical works while working at the university.

In late April, "following several months of research, analysis and public consultation overseen by the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group" the university board concluded "the continued use of the Berkeley name on its library is inconsistent with the University’s core values of human dignity, freedom, inclusivity, and equality."

A TCD statement said Berkeley had bought four slaves to work on his estate in the United States in the early 1730s, and that he had "sought to advance ideology in support of slavery."

Trinity is just one of dozens of universities globally which have recently revised their approach to commemorating hist...
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