The college was established in 1974 by Diarmuid Hegarty and incorporated in 1978 as the "Business and Accounting Training (BAT)". Originally located on Morehampton Road, in 1991 the Business and Accounting College moved from Milltown Park, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, to the Griffith Barracks site changed its name to Griffith College Dublin.In 1979 Griffith College was designated as being an institution under the Irish Government's National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) Act. In 1990 the first degree course was offered by Griffith College in Computer Science and it was validated by the University of Ulster. In 1992 it was followed by a Business Studies degree, this arrangement ceased in 1996 and the degrees were validated by Irish National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) the predecessor of HETAC.