This collection documents sculptures that comprise part of the University College Dublin art collection. Many of these sculptures have featured in the UCD Sculpture Trail. The UCD Sculpture Trail comprises public works of art that are an integral part of the urban fabric of the university, enriching the sense of place and the physical beauty of the natural environment. Varying in style and material, the collection is representative of national and internationally renowned artists including John Burke, Jason Ellis, Thomas Glendon, James Hogan, Kevin O'Dwyer, Bob Quinn and Giorgio Zennaro.

Rowan Gillespie (b.1953, Dublin) is one of Ireland's most prolific and successful sculptures. He has completed numerous commissions in Ireland and across the world. His Famine figures on the Liffey Quays are well known to Dubliners. Gillespie studied in the UK and Norway. 'Judgement' is based on a small sculpture he made in 1991 in response to a philosophical argument about the Iraq war. This work was donated to UCD by Peter Sutherland.

Eamonn Ceannt (b.1953, Dublin) is a graduate and former Vice President of UCD. His work is notable for its tactile qualities and sinuous forms. Ceannt has travelled extensively over the years including north Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent and lived for a number of years in Kenya. The influence of native and classical art is evident in his work. 'Black Tulip' is one of a series of sculptures based on plant studies. This work was donated to UCD by RKD architects to mark their 100th anniversary.

Walker has been making work in glass in recent years. This sculpture is part of his translucent series of grid works, which take the form of stacked alternating layers of different types of glass.

Quinn (b.1948, Britain) had a successful career as a graphic designer. Since 2002 he is a full time figurative sculptor working mainly in bronze.

Niizuma (b.1930, Tokyo) was educated in Japan and America. The sculptor was invited to Ireland for Meitheal '78, where he carried out this work. The artist was captivated by the inherent beauty in Irish stone and wished to uncover its hidden qualities.

Fallon drew inspiration from nature and particularly wild life. The Chanticleer or cockerel is mentioned in Chaucer's CanterburyTales as the finest of its breed and the inherent pride of the bird is reflected in Fallon's use of material.

Ellis (b.1965, Cornwall, England) studied sculpture in England and trained as a conservator. He moved to Ireland in 1994 and set up a successful conservation practice. Since 2007 he has devoted himself full-time to making sculpture. The work, over 7 metres high, was commissioned for the Roebuck Residence buildings. It reflects Ellis's interest in the work of the early modernist sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

Brennan (b.1943, Mayo) was a founding member of the Sculptors' Society of Ireland and is a director of CAST Bronze Foundry, Dublin. The first version of this work was made at a Steel Symposium in 1983 held at the Arklow shipbuilding yard. The massive series of interlocating discs were originally positioned near the main restaurant.

Fallon (b.1939, Wexford–d.2007) was one of the country's best known sculptors of animals. In his work the influence of synthetic cubism is evident, as is Fallon's interest in the ancient art of the classical world. Like Moelwyn Merchant, whose work is also in the collection, he was friendly with the British sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Moelwyn Merchant (b.1913 Wales–d.1997) was a poet and academic, who served also as an Anglican priest. He turned to sculpture late in his life. His abstract forms were influenced by the work of his friend, the English sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Walker (b.1967, Dublin) studied sculpture in NCAD and now divides his time between New York and Dublin. In this early work Walker addresses issues of scale and dimension which are rooted in his height of 129cm.

DeChenu (b.1961, Dublin) started his career as a documentary photographer but his current practise encompasses video, photography, sound, text and sculpture. Donated by Professor Micheal MacCormac and his wife in 2003, the sculpture concerns itself with learning and the acquisition of knowledge in an academic environment.

Glendon (b.1947, Ireland) trained in his father's stone yard in south county Dublin and later trained with Michael Biggs. This work was the result of a Stone Symposium in the Dublin mountains in 1984. Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was sacrificed to enable the Greek fleet to sail for the siege of Troy.

Catherine Greene (b.1960) graduated in sculpture from NCAD in 1984. She is an established figurative sculpture working in bronze and latterly mixed media and lives and works in county Kildare. 'Portal' was specially commissioned for the UCD Sutherland School of Law and marks the transition from the outer residential and support areas of the campus into the pedestrianised academic heart of the university. Viewers are invited to walk through the sculpture echoing the allegorical nature of the work.

Zennaro (b.1926, Venice) is a leading Italian exponent of the Concrete Art movement. Concrete Art is a form of abstraction that dismisses any analogies to nature or the natural world. This work was donated by the late Italian Ambassador to Ireland Dr. Francesco Carlo Gentile.

Joynt (b.1966, Kerry) was commissioned by leading horse-trainer Dermot Weld to make this sculpture for the new Veterinary Medicine building. The quote beside the piece 'Omne vivum ex ovo' means all things come from the egg. Sperm like shapes cover the surface of the egg and include depictions of bulls, rats and hamsters as well as man. The sculpture is decorated with small holes, which create a planetarium-like effect when viewed from the pointed end.

Warren (b.1950, Gorey) is an abstract sculptor who often works with an architectural setting. Presented by architects Burke Kennedy Doyle and Partners in 1991 and positioned beside a metal bridge, this sculpture concerns itself with gravity and bears a resemblance to his work at Wood Quay in Dublin.

The piece was produced during Meitheal '78, a sculpture symposium held in the Dublin mountains in 1978. Paddy O'Sullivan (b.1940, London) studied art in Britain and moved to Ireland in 1970. The form of this work refers to an ancient Irish quern stone or mill and is familiarly known to generations of students as 'the blob'.

Mulholland is a member of the RHA and Aosdana and her work is in both public and private collections. Conceived and designed by Carolyn Mulholland 'Narcissus' was carved by Philip O'Neill.

Blackwell was born in Scotland and lives and works in county Meath. He is currently completing a MA in sculpture in NCAD. 'Life-Force' is a fusion of cutting edge industrial techniques used by the aviation and maritime industries with an aesthetic sensibility and sensitive affinity to its immediate surroundings.

Gillespie (b.1953, Dublin) trained as a sculptor in Britain before establishing his workshop and foundry in Dublin in 1977. This is one in his series of attenuated androgynous figures that can be found in locations both in and outside the city.

Originally commissioned as part of the Clanwilliam Court Development in Dublin this architectonic sculpture was donated to UCD by Mr David Arnold in 2008. Delaney (b. 1930, Mayo) studied in Rome and Munich and is best known for his expressive figurative public work. The sculpture had previously been located in the American Airlines Building on Baggot Street, Dublin.

Burke (b.1946,Tipperary–d.2006 ) studied in Cork before moving to London where he was introduced to painted steel sculpture. One of the early abstract sculptors in Ireland, his work was influenced by the British sculptor Anthony Caro and the American Alexander Calder. His coloured sculptures enliven architectural spaces.