The belfry of the Trinity Campanile serves as the allegorical central meeting point for many on campus. The statues representing divinity, science, medicine and law stand proud, with Homer, Socrates, Plato and Demosthenes – pioneers of the study of humanities – overseeing this guild of students. At the other end of campus looms another meeting point, overseen not by titans of ancient knowledge but by the names of former sports captains: the Pav.

When current Trinity students hear any utterance of the Pav – the Pavillion Bar –, it likely conjures an image of the campus bar overflowing with students, or the infamous Pav marquee outside. Pav Fridays rage on as the bar staff dole out pints of the Pav’s own newly released signature lager. However, older alumni might have other associations; the building opened its doors in 1885 and has gone through 140 years of evolution to reach its seminal point today. 

In the years leading up to 1885, Thomas Drew, an architect from Belfast, befittingly provided the design for the Pav before going on to design another beloved centre of on campus discourse – and lighter drinking – the Graduate Memorial Building (GMB). At the time of opening, the Pav was officially the Cricket Pavilion. A smaller building built on the college property for the purpose of housing changing rooms and bathrooms as well as a reception room capable of hosting meetings and providing post-game refreshments for those coming from College Park. It served the dual practical purposes of providing a centre for hygiene and a meeting place for sportsmanship. 

Over the next seven and a half decades, players interested in celebrating a win or commemorating a loss over a fresh pint from the keg had to venture from the Cricket Pavilion to the Buttery. The Buttery was the centre for drinking, indoor smoking and student events on campus throughout this time. The Cricket Pavilion became a bar in 1960 following the Dublin University Athletics Club, the body responsible for Trinity sports clubs, successfully acquired a liquor licence for the property. College implemented its own restrictions on hours that alcohol was permitted to be served: 3:30pm to 6:45pm during term time, with final call drawn back to 6:15pm outside of term time. The hours would change over time, with the bar now open from 12pm to 11pm year round. This marked the Cricket Pavilion expanding its purpose to a centre for socialisation outside of sports. 

The Buttery and the Pav both served alcohol from 1960 through to 2006. In a University Times article, Trinity Professor Neville Cox, the Registrar and then Dean of Undergraduate Studies, outlined a distinction between Arts students socialising in the Buttery and sportspersons socialising in the Pav. When the Buttery stopped serving  alcohol in 2006, the Pav became the on campus haunt for all students, in turn creating the meeting place of humanities and sports. 

Throughout this time and persisting to the present day, the premises has been formally recognised as the Cricket Pavilion. ‘Pavilion’ and, later, ‘Pav’ were abridged versions of the name coined for convenience, however this name also became more apt as the Pavilion Bar now provided to a larger clientele beyond sportspersons. This was especially aided by the Pavilion not requiring a student identification for admittance, which the Buttery Bar necessitated.

With only one bar on campus, the later noughties saw the popularisation of buying cans and other portable (and cheaper) drink options from the Pav. Popular phrases that can be attributed to the archetypical ‘Trinner’ evolve from this trend: “to have a Bav in the Pav, Gav”, references purchasing cans of Bavaria Premium Beer. Many students opted to drink this while sitting around the College Park cricket field. Throughout Hilary Term exam periods, Students’ Union class representatives began to encourage the practice astutely called, “Exam to Pav”. 

Recent history of the Pav is encapsulated by the emergence of Pav Fridays. As the name suggests, the event is a night out in the Pav on a Friday hosted by the Students Union Ents committee, often partnered with college societies. Students from multiple Dublin based universities have been known to attend the renowned event in order to see what the furor is about (so blame UCD students for the never-ending queue). The spirit of Pav Friday enabling all students to take part in any social outlet from conversation to dancing is what captures the soul of the Pav as it exists today. 

The one thing that Pav Fridays prove, irrespective of anything else, is that the story of the Pav’s evolution is yet to finish. When the 2025 ‘re-freshers week’ Pav Friday was cancelled  on account of Storm Éowyn, it made headlines on both Trinity News and The University Times. An unprecedented re-re-freshers week was introduced to host the planned Pav Friday a week later. This introduced a widespread discourse around the tradition, as Pav Friday regulars debate whether the Pav Friday entertainment should introduce bands or stay true to DJs and the controlled rave ambience. 

The bar will stand strong so long as this discourse continues to manifest as patronage to the Pavilion. The bar provides a lot for current students, from jobs behind the bar to revenue which supports sports clubs. The beloved staple also provides to its newer patrons in the humanities – during essay season, after a long night in Kinsella Hall, there is 24 hour access to locker rooms and showers beneath the Pavilion bar for students carrying a T-card. 

Through its students, Trinity promises to gift the world a historical tradition, a social community, a legacy in sports and an outlet for education and discourse. This can all be found in the confined space of the Pav. I think everyone would benefit from a picture at the Pav on their graduation day. It may be just as, if not more, significant than the one you will inevitably take in front of the campanile.