HILARY

St Hilary of Poitier's (315-367 AD)  feast day is on 14th January in the calendar. His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful.  The second academic term of the University of Oxford and Trinity College Dublin are called Hilary terms since they begin on approximately this date.  All terms are dated from this day in the following way:

Michaelmas term - 13 Sundays before to 5 Sundays before the feast day of St Hilary

Hilary term – 1 Sunday to 9 Sundays after the feast day of St Hilary

Trinity term – 15 Sundays to 21 Sundays after the feast day of St Hilary

   The term originated in the legal system during medieval times. The Courts of England and Wales and the Courts of Ireland divide the legal year into four terms: Hilary, Easter, Trinity and Michaelmas.