The Lir is the National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin. Its aim is to train young actors, designers, directors, playwrights, stage managers and theatre technicians to the highest international standards for careers in the theatre and allied professions.
The training offered by The Lir will be closely linked to the ever-changing needs and directions of the theatre industry. The staff of The Lir will have had extensive experience in the professional theatre and will continue to work in and maintain close contacts with the industry. Further, The Lir has fostered close links with the allied professions of film, television and new media. Training is offered by professionals with extensive experience of the industry in a conscious effort to teach students from the outset the highest level of international professional practice. The depth and breadth of the training is supplemented by guest lectures and workshops from leading international figures of stage and screen.
The training offered by The Lir takes place in an exciting new building designed specifically for the range of courses featuring a flexible black box studio, as well as 2 further performance studios, a dance studio, technical workshop, and a range of flexible teaching spaces to suit the training of The Lir’s young theatre practitioners.
Students are expected to come from very diverse backgrounds and are accepted on the basis of exceptional natural talent. A series of auditions and interviews form the basis of the admission procedure. None of the courses are part of the CAO system and thus will not be part of the points race.
All courses taught by The Lir lead to degrees and diplomas awarded by Trinity College Dublin. Students on the courses are also full-time students of Trinity College and have access to the range of services that the College provides. Currently, the undergraduate courses offered by The Lir, like all courses in the Higher Education system in Ireland, are eligible for fee remission.
