▁of ▁Cambridge ▁and ▁Oxford . ▁However , ▁only ▁one ▁constitu ent ▁college ▁was ▁ever ▁founded , ▁hence ▁the ▁curious ▁position ▁of ▁Tr inity ▁College ▁Dublin ▁today ; ▁although ▁both ▁are ▁usually ▁considered ▁one ▁and ▁the ▁same , ▁the ▁university ▁and ▁college ▁are ▁completely ▁distinct ▁corpor ate ▁entities ▁with ▁separate ▁and ▁parallel ▁gover ning ▁structures . ▁ ▁Among ▁more ▁modern ▁found ations , ▁the ▁National ▁University ▁of ▁Ireland , ▁founded ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 8 , ▁consisted ▁of ▁constitu ent ▁colleg es ▁and ▁recogn ised ▁colleg es ▁until ▁ 1 9 9 7 . ▁The ▁former ▁are ▁now ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁constitu ent ▁univers ities ▁– ▁institutions ▁that ▁are ▁essentially ▁univers ities ▁in ▁their ▁own ▁right . ▁The ▁National ▁University ▁can ▁trace ▁its ▁existence ▁back ▁to ▁ 1 8 5 0 ▁and ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁the ▁Queen ' s ▁University ▁of ▁Ireland ▁and ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁the ▁Catholic ▁University ▁of ▁Ireland ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 4 . ▁From ▁ 1 8 8 0 , ▁the ▁degree ▁award ing ▁roles ▁of ▁these ▁two ▁univers ities ▁was ▁taken ▁over ▁by ▁the ▁Royal ▁University ▁of ▁Ireland , ▁which ▁remained ▁until ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁the ▁National ▁University ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 8 ▁and ▁Queen ' s ▁University ▁B elf ast . ▁ ▁The ▁state ' s ▁two ▁new ▁univers ities , ▁Dublin ▁City ▁University ▁and ▁University ▁of ▁L imer ick , ▁were ▁initially ▁National ▁Institute ▁for ▁High er ▁Education ▁institutions . ▁These ▁institutions ▁offered ▁university ▁level ▁academic ▁degrees ▁and ▁research ▁from ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁their