The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by Royal Charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 of the Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university education to members of all religious denominations" in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

The university system itself was replaced by the Royal University of Ireland

Royal University of Ireland

The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of...

 in 1880, which in turn was replaced by Queen's University Belfast, with the Cork and Galway colleges forming the National University of Ireland

National University of Ireland

The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...

, along with University College Dublin

University College Dublin

University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

.

The three Queen's colleges are now known as

• Queen's University Belfast,
• University College Cork, and
• National University of Ireland, Galway
  National University of Ireland, Galway
  The National University of Ireland, Galway is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland...
  
  .

Establishment

The Queen's Colleges (Ireland) Act 1845 (An Act to enable Her Majesty to endow new Colleges for the Advancement of Learning in Ireland) established the colleges with the intention that they would provide for Roman Catholic demands for university education, since Catholics did not generally attend Trinity College Dublin at that time, though there were no legal restrictions preventing them.

Nevertheless, at the prompting of Protestant interests the colleges were not permitted to give instruction in theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

. The result was that the colleges became derided as the "godless colleges" — Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX

Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

 even went as far as saying they were "detrimental to religion" in an official condemnation — and this non-acceptance was articulated in the creation of the Catholic University of Ireland

Catholic University of Ireland

The Catholic University of Ireland was a Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland and was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its associated colleges which were nondenominational...

 to rival the colleges.
In 1845 the Mayor of Limerick applied to have a Queen's College located in the city however Cork, Galway and Belfast were chosen.

The colleges were incorporated on December 30, 1845; and on October 30, 1849 they opened for students. A Board of Queen's Colleges was created to draw up regulations for the colleges, consisting of the President and Vice-President of each college.

Academic degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

s were conferred by the chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

 and senate

Senate

A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...

 of the university with a status similar to those of other universities of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

.

In 1866 the university considered examining and conferring degrees on students other than those of the Queen’s colleges, such as the Catholic Carlow College the St. Patricks College Carlow Report was conducted and the college was deemed to meet the suitable, however it was never enacted.

The Queen's College at Belfast became predominantly Protestant, unlike the colleges at Cork and Galway.

A number of significant figures in Irish public life participated in the governing senate of the university such as Sir Dominic Corrigan

Dominic Corrigan

Sir Dominic Corrigan was a physician, known for his original observations in heart disease. The abnormal "collapsing" pulse of aortic valve insufficiency is named Corrigan's pulse after him.-Birth and Education:The son of a dealer in agricultural tools, Corrigan was educated in St...

 (Vice-Chancellor). Naturalist Robert Ball

Robert Ball (naturalist)

Robert Ball was an Irish naturalist.-Life:He was born at Queenstown , County Cork. The Ball family lived in Youghal, County Cork. Robert had a brother, Bent, and two sisters Anne, a well-known phytologist, and Mary, an entomologist...

 became secretary of Queen's University of Ireland in 1851

Dissolution

The Queen's University was superseded by a new, inclusive, degree-awarding institution, the Royal University of Ireland

Royal University of Ireland

The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of...

 in 1880. The Queen's University was formally dissolved on February 3, 1882.
Immediately on incorporation, the Royal University broke with the “godless” convention, by setting examinations for, and awarding degrees to students of colleges with a religious heritage, notably Magee Presbyterian College

Magee College

Magee College is a campus of the University of Ulster located in Derry, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1865 as a Presbyterian Christian arts and theological college...

, and the Catholic University of Ireland

Catholic University of Ireland

The Catholic University of Ireland was a Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland and was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its associated colleges which were nondenominational...

 (that included St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and University College, Dublin.)
The Belfast college was separated from the other two in 1908, and became the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB).
Queen's College, Cork is now known as University College Cork (UCC) and Queen's College, Galway is now known as National University of Ireland, Galway

National University of Ireland, Galway

The National University of Ireland, Galway is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland...

 (NUI, Galway).
Since 1908 the latter two have been part of the federal National University of Ireland

National University of Ireland

The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...

system.