2013, entering the winning team of John Engle and Liam Brophy in that years Irish Times National Debating Championship. During the 4th Session, the club welcomed three living descendants of its namesake Bram Stoker. Noel Dobbs, Robin MacCaw and Dacre Stoker met with members of the club and society at large. Each presented papers on the history of Bram Stoker and legacy of Dracula within their family. Also in attendance was distant relative and Senator David Norris. Finally the Stoker family presented the club with portrait of Bram Stoker by Dublin artist Damian Byrne, and a plaque specifying the connection between the society and their ancestor. Competitive debating External debating competitions The society has a presence on the competitive debating circuit. Having first won the Irish Times National Debating Championship in 1961 the society has gone on to win and place in several other well known debating competitions. These include the John Smith Memorial Mace, World Universities Debating Championship, Irish National Law Debates, Cork IV and the UCD Vice Presidents' Cup IV.. In 2022, Dylan McCarthy and Jack Palmer from the Phil won the European Universities Debating Championships in Zagreb, becoming the second Irish team to win the championships and the first from Trinity. Internal debating competitions The society runs several internal debating competitions each year. These consist of: The Eamon O'Coine Memorial Maiden Speaker's Competition (or "Maidens"); for first-time speakers in college. The Jeremy Clarkson Memorial Debating Competition (or "Clarkies"), consisting of a series of regular weekly debates.; satirically named after TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Formerly known as The Maggies, after former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher The Elizabethan Society Memorial Pro-Am Competition (or "Lizzies"); a competition whereby experienced debaters (Pros) are teamed with less experienced speakers (Ams). The Isabel Marion Weir Johnston Memorial (or "Izzy's"); is an internal competition for all members of the society. It is named in honour of the first woman to enter Trinity where she went on to found the Elizabethan Society which later merged with the Philosophical Society. The J.P Mahaffy Memorial (or "Mahaffy's"); named after former President of the society John Pentland Mahaffy internal debating competition for Junior Freshman ("fresher") teams of two. Trinity intervarsity Each year, normally in January, the society jointly with the Hist hosts the Claire Stewart Trinity IV. Before 2015 this consisted of the Trinity Invitational and the Dean Swift Intervarsity. In 2015, the Trinity