Patrick's into a university， having changed his mind once he had secured his own transference to Dublin， opposed warmly the project of the Deputy. When， however， he had succeeded in saving St. Patrick's for his relatives and dependents he brought forward another proposal， namely， that the Corporation of Dublin should hand over the site of the old monastery of All Hallows for the establishment of a university. The corporation agreed to this proposal， and in 1592 a charter was granted by Elizabeth. An appeal was then issued for subscriptions， and in a short time about ā2，000 was collected， many of the Anglo-Irish Catholics being amongst the subscribers. In 1593Trinity College was opened for the reception of students. Though care had been taken by the archbishop when discussing the subject with the Corporation of Dublin， most of the members of which were still Catholic， and by the Deputy when appealing for funds for the erection of the buildings， not to raise the question of religion， yet Trinity College was intended from the beginning to be a bulwark of Protestantism as well as of English power in Ireland. Elizabeth had already done much to forward the cause of the new religion by getting possession of the children of the Anglo-Irish or Irish nobles and bringing them to England to be reared up as Protestants and as Englishmen，[90] and it was hoped that Trinity College， supported by the diocesan schools， would do for the better class of the nation what Oxford and Cambridge were doing for the unfortunate children of the chiefs who were kidnapped in the name of religion and statesmanship.
The new college set itself to carry out exactly the wishes of its founders， and in return from its compliancy it received large endowments from the English crown mainly by grants of confiscated territories in different parts of Ireland.[91]
Yet in spite of all the measures that were taken， commissions， fines， executions， bestowal of honours and appointments， diocesan schools， and kidnapping of children， the Reformation made but little progress.
The truth is that Elizabeth's representatives in Ireland had not the power to enforce her wishes in regard to religion， nor did Elizabeth herself desire to stir up a general insurrection by attempting to punish the lay nobles for their flagrant disregard of her ordinances.
Thus in 1585 Walsingham sent over express instructions to the Protestant Archbishop of Armagh (Long) that the gentlemen of the Pale were to be excused from taking the oath of allegiance，[92] and in 1591Sir George Carew informed Lord Deputy Fitzwilliam that the queen was displeased with him because "she feared that he was too forward in dealing with matters of religion，" and that he (Carew) had attempted to excuse the Deputy by pointing out that on account of the forbearance of the government， "they of the Pale were grown insolent."At one time Elizabeth wrote to the Deputy and council blaming them for neglecting to push forward the interests of the new religion (1599)， while the very next year she instructed Lord Mountjoy not to interfere by any severity or violence in matters of religion， until the power of England was established so firmly that such interference could be effective. The reason for this wavering attitude is not difficult to understand. Elizabeth feared that a general attack upon religion as such would be the best means of inducing all the Catholic noblemen to forget their personal rivalries and unite in one great national confederation. Such a turn of events might have proved disastrous to English interests in Ireland， and hence care was taken to allow a certain measure of toleration to the noblemen， and to explain away the punishments inflicted on the clergy as having been imposed not on account of religion， but on account of their traitorous designs. This is brought out very clearly in a letter of Sir George Carew to the privy council in 1600. The citizens of Waterford had been reported for their complete and open disregard of the new religion， and Carew was charged with the work of punishing such disobedience. He wrote that he would "handle the matter of religion as nicely as he could，" and that he would endeavour to convict the leaders of the movement of treason because， he added， "if it do appear in the least that any part of their punishment proceeds for matter of religion， it will kindle a great fire in this kingdom."[93]
In 1576 Hugh Brady， the Protestant Bishop of Meath， reported to the Lord Deputy that the condition of the Established Church was lamentable， that the priests， though deprived of their livings， continued to maintain themselves on the voluntary offerings of the people， that the churches had fallen into a state of decay， that no ministers were at hand who could address the people in their own language， and that to remedy this state of affairs Englishmen should be sent over as bishops to organise the new religious body， and Scotchmen should be requested to act as preachers.[94] When such a state of affairs existed in the Pale districts it is easy to see that Protestantism had as yet made little progress among the Irish people.