When the ‘idea of science, method, order, principle and system; of rule and exception, of richness and harmony’ came to the highly trained intellect of the ‘patron saint’ of Irish universities, he was discoursing on the idea of a university in 1852.* John Henry Newman held that the training of the intellect for its own sake was the purpose of a university education. Today this might seem a little high-minded, outdated and even misguided. But we, as part of the university community of today, still owe it to ourselves, and so to society, to scrutinise constantly not only our own lecturing and research, but also to look to the wider purpose o f what we are trying to achieve as a university. For that purpose a well-trained intellect—trained in knowledge, method and order—is still as important today as it was a century and a half ago.