University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

, and located in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Colleges located in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Cork, and

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. It became University College, Cork, under the

Irish Universities Act 1908 The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

. The Universities Act 1997 renamed the university as National University of Ireland, Cork, and a Ministerial Order of 1998 renamed the university as University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork, though it continues to be almost universally known as University College Cork. Amongst other rankings and awards, the university was named Irish University of the Year by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' on five occasions; most recently in 2017. In 2015, UCC was also named as top performing university by the European Commission funded

U-Multirank College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

system, based on obtaining the highest number of "A" scores (21 out of 28 metrics) among a field of 1200 partaking universities. UCC also became the first university to achieve the

ISO 50001 ISO 50001 Energy management systems - Requirements with guidance for use, is an international standard created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently thro ...

standard in energy management in 2011.

History

Queen's College, Cork, was founded by the provisions of an act which enabled

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

to endow new colleges for the "Advancement of Learning in Ireland". Under the powers of this act, the three colleges of

, Cork and

were incorporated on 30 December 1845. The college opened in 1849 with 23 professors and 181 students; Medicine, Arts, and Law were the three founding faculties. A year later the college became part of the

Queen's University of Ireland The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by royal charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the ''Queen's Colleges'' of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university ...

. The original site chosen for the college was considered appropriate as it was believed to have had a connection with the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Cork,

Saint Finbarr Saint Finbar, Finbarr, Finnbar, or Finnbarr, in Irish Fionnbharra, very often abbreviated to Barra, (c. 550– 25 September 623) was Bishop of Cork and abbot of a monastery in what is now the city of Cork, Ireland. He is patron saint of ...

. His monastery and school of learning were close by at Gill Abbey Rock and the mill attached to the monastery is thought to have stood on the bank of the south channel of the

River Lee The River Lee () is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's city centre is b ...

, which runs through the college lower grounds. This association is also reflected in the college motto "Where Finbarr Taught, Let

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

Learn" which is also the university motto. Adjacent to Gillabbey and overlooking the valley of the river Lee, the site was selected in 1846. The Tudor Gothic quadrangle and early campus buildings were designed and built by

Sir Thomas Deane ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

and

Benjamin Woodward Benjamin Woodward (16 November 1816 – 15 May 1861) was an Irish architect who, in partnership with Sir Thomas Newenham Deane, designed a number of buildings in Dublin, Cork and Oxford. Life Woodward was born in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ire ...

. Queen's College Cork officially opened its doors in November 1849, with further buildings added later, including the Medical/Windle Building in the 1860s.

National University of Ireland

In the following century, the

formed the

, consisting of the three constituent colleges of Dublin, Cork and Galway, and the college was given the status of a

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

as ''University College, Cork''. The Universities Act, 1997, made the university college a constituent university of the National University and made the constituent university a full university for all purposes except the awarding of degrees and diplomas which remains the sole remit of the National University.

Today

As of 2022, University College Cork (UCC) had 24,195 students. These included 16,849 in undergraduate programmes, 7,346 in postgraduate study and research, and 2,800 in adult continuing education across undergraduate, postgraduate and short courses. The student base is supported by 3,429 academic, research and administrative staff. As of 2022, UCC reportedly has c. 200,000 alumni worldwide.

Campus

Student numbers, at over 24,000 in 2022, increased from the late 1980s, precipitating the expansion of the campus by the acquisition of adjacent buildings and lands. This expansion continued with the opening of the

Alfred O'Rahilly Alfred O'Rahilly, KSG (1 October 1884 – 1 August 1969) was an academic with controversial views on both electromagnetism and religion. He briefly served in politics, as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork Borough, and was later the president of Un ...

building in the late 1990s, the Cavanagh Pharmacy building, the Brookfield Health Sciences centre, the extended ''Áras na MacLéinn'' (Devere Hall), the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in 2004, ''Experience UCC'' (Visitors' Centre) and an extension to the ''Boole Library'' – named for the first professor of mathematics at UCC,

George Boole George Boole ( ; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in Ireland. H ...

, who developed the

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

that would later make computer programming possible. The university also completed the Western Gateway Building in 2009 on the site of the former Cork Greyhound track on the Western Road as well as refurbishment to the Tyndall institute buildings at the Lee Maltings Complex. In 2016, UCC acquired the Cork Savings Bank building on Lapps Quay in the centre of Cork City. As of 2017, the university is rolling out a programme to increase the space across its campuses, with part of this development involving the creation of a 'student hub' to support academic strategy, add 600 new student accommodation spaces, and develop an outdoor sports facility. Glucksman2

The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences is based on the North Mall Campus, the site of the former

North Mall Distillery The North Mall Distillery was an Irish whiskey distillery located in Cork City, Ireland. In its day one of the most famous distilleries in Ireland, the distillery was destroyed by a fire in 1920. Distilling operations never resumed at the North ...

. Since 1986, 2.5 tonnes of uranium rods had been stored in the basement of the UCC physics department, for use in a sub critical assembly (SCA) for research and training purposes. The uranium was originally given to Ireland by the US as part of the

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

programme, however, due to public opposition, the reactor was disassembled during the 1980s. As there is no nuclear waste site in Ireland, the uranium remained on campus, with the last update on its status from then-Minister for Education Ruari Quinn being that it was securely stored in a radioactive waste store until it could be permanently relocated off-campus. In 2006, the university re-opened the Crawford Observatory, a structure built in 1880 on the grounds of the university by Sir

Howard Grubb Sir Howard Grubb (28 July 1844 – 16 September 1931) was an Irish optical engineer. He was head of a family firm that made large optical telescopes, telescope drive controls, and other optical instruments. He is also noted for his work to per ...

. Grubb, son of the Grubb telescope building family in Dublin, designed the observatory and built the astronomical instruments for the structure. The university paid for an extensive restoration and conservation of the building and the three main telescopes, the Equatorial, the Transit Circle and Sidereostatic telescopes. In November 2009, several UCC buildings were damaged by flooding. The floods also affected other parts of Cork City, with many students being evacuated from accommodation. The college authorities postponed academic activities for a week, and indicated that it would take until 2010 before all flood-damaged property would be repaired. Particularly impacted was the newly opened Western Gateway Building, with the main lecture theatre requiring a total refit just months after opening for classes. In 2018, UCC's campus became home to the first "plastic free" café in Ireland, with the opening of the Bio Green Café in the Biosciences building.

Research

The university is one of Ireland's leading research institutes, with among the highest research income in the state. In 2016, UCC secured research funding of over €96 million, a 21% increase over five years and a high for the university. The university had seven faculties: Arts and Celtic Studies, Commerce, Engineering, Food Science and Technology, Law, Medicine, and Science. Between 2005 and 2006 the university was restructured from these seven faculties into four colleges: Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science; Business and Law; Medicine and Health; and Science, Engineering and Food Science. According to the 2009–2012 UCC Strategic Plan,UCC.ie Strategic Plan 2009–2012 pg20-22
/ref> UCC aimed to enhance research and innovation. In 2009, the university was ranked in the top 3% of universities worldwide for research. UCC's published research strategy proposed to create "Centres of Excellence" for "world-class research" in which the researchers and research teams would be given "freedom and flexibility to pursue their areas of research". Research centres in UCC cover a range of areas including: Nanoelectronics with the Tyndall Institute; Food and Health with the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, NutraMara, Food for Health Ireland Research Centre, and Cereal Science Cork; the Environment with the Environmental Research Institute (with research in biodiversity, aquaculture, energy efficiency and ocean energy); and Business Information Systems. The ''Sunday Times'' "Good University Guide 2015", put UCC at the top of their rankings for "research income per academic". In October 2008, the governing body of the university announced that UCC would be the first institution in Ireland to use embryonic stem cells in research under strict guidelines of the University Research Ethics using imported hESCs from approved jurisdictions. In 2009, Professor of Mathematics at UCC, Des McHale, challenged the university's decision to allow embryonic stem cell research. According to the results of a poll conducted by irishhealth.com, almost two in three people supported the decision made by University College Cork to allow embryonic stem cell research. In 2016, Professor Noel Caplice, director of the centre for research in Vascular Biology at UCC and a cardiologist at Cork University Hospital, announced a "major breakthrough in the field of blood vessel replacement".

Campus companies

The university has a number of related companies including: Cytrea, which is involved in

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

formulations; Firecomms, an ICT company concentrating on

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

communications; Alimentary Health a

biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

healthcare company; Biosensia who develop integrated micro-system analytical chips; Sensl, part of

ON Semiconductor ON Semiconductor Corporation (stylized and doing business as onsemi) is an American semiconductor supplier company, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Products include power and signal management, logic, discrete, and custom devices for automotive, c ...

; Luxcel which is involved in the development of probes and sensors; and Optical Metrology Innovations which develops laser

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

systems.

Knowledge transfer

Innovation and Knowledge transfer is driven by UCC's Office of Technology Transfer, an office of the university dedicated to commercialising aspects of UCC's research and connecting researchers with industry. Recent spinouts from the college include pharmaceutical company Glantreo, Luxcel Biosciences, Alimentary Health, Biosensia, Firecoms, Gourmet Marine, Keelvar, Lee Oncology, and Sensl.

Commemorative events

In 2015, the university marked the bicentenary of mathematician, philosopher and logician

– UCC's first professor of mathematics. In September 2017, UCC unveiled a €350 million investment plan, with university president, Professor Patrick O’Shea, outlining the development goals for UCC in the areas of philanthropy and student recruitment. The plan proposes to provide for curriculum development, an increase in national and international student numbers, the extension of the campus and an increase in the income earned from philanthropy. The Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht and Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, Heather Humphreys TD, also announced that 2018's National Famine Commemoration is planned to take place in UCC. Cork University Press published The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine in 2012. Subsequently, in September 2017, The Atlas of the Irish Revolution was published by Cork University Press. In November 2017, UCC's MSc Information Systems for Business Performance (ISBP) was named "Postgraduate Course of the Year – IT" at the gradireland Higher Education Awards in Dublin.

Reputation

University College Cork has been ranked by a number of bodies, and was named as the "Irish University of the Year" by the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' in 2003, 2005, 2011 and 2016, and was a runner up in the 2015 edition. In 2015, UCC was also named as top performing university by the European Commission funded

system, based on a high number of "A" scores (21 out of 28 metrics) among a field of 1200 partaking universities. Also in 2015, the

CWTS Leiden Ranking The CWTS Leiden Ranking is an annual global university ranking based exclusively on bibliometric indicators. The rankings are compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies ( Dutch: ''Centrum voor Wetenschap en Technologische Studies' ...

placed UCC 1st in Ireland, 16th in Europe and 52nd globally from a field of 750 universities. The 2011

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

assigned a 5-star rating to UCC, and ranked the university amongst the top 2% of universities worldwide. UCC was ranked 230th in the 2014 edition of the QS World University Rankings. 13 of its subject areas featured in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2015 (up from 10 subject areas in 2014), including the Pharmacy & Pharmacology disciplines, which were listed with the top 50 worldwide. The Universitas Indonesia (UI) Greenmetric World University Ranking awarded UCC a second in the world ranking for the second year in a row in 2015 for its efforts in the area of sustainability, with 360 universities from 62 countries ranked overall. UCC has been recognised for its digital and social media presence, winning the 'Best Social Media Engagement' category at the 2014 Social Media Awards, and as a finalist in two categories at the 2015 Social Media Awards. A previous finalist at the 2013 and 2014 Web Awards, UCC also made the 2015 finals in two categories, 'Most Influential Irish Website Ever' and 'Best Education and Third Level Website'. University College Cork had the first website in Ireland in 1991 (only the ninth website in the world at the time), serving transcriptions of Irish historical and literary documents for the CELT project converted from SGML to HTML. It was reported in December 2020 that UCC had spent €76,265.38 investigating sexual harassment claims over the previous five years. This represented the largest amount spent by a third-level institution in Ireland during that period. UCC spent €24,460.50 on legal fees in the years 2017 and 2018, and paid out €510 in 2018.

Academic units

College of Medicine and Health

Medicine, Arts, and Law were the three founding faculties when Queen's College Cork opened its doors to students in 1849. The medical buildings were built in stages between 1860 and 1880, and the faculty quickly gained a reputation for the quality of its graduates. The first two women to graduate in medicine in Ireland did so in 1898 (this was notable as it was more than 20 years before women were permitted to sit for medicine at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

). UCC School of Medicine is part of the College of Medicine and Health, and is based at the Brookfield Health Sciences Centre on the main UCC campus and is affiliated with the 1000-bed University College Cork Teaching Hospital, which is the largest medical centre in Ireland. The UCC School Of Pharmacy is based in the Cavanagh Pharmacy Building.

Centre for Architectural Education

The Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) is the Department of Architecture at UCC, and is a school jointly run with Munster Technological University. It is accredited by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

Humanities

The College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences (CACSSS) incorporates a number of schools. UCC is home to the Irish Institute of Chinese Studies, which allows students to study Chinese culture as well as the language through Arts and Commerce. The department won the European Award for Languages in 2008. As of 2017, Digital Humanities had grown as a discipline, with 26 PhD research students working on various Digital Humanities projects. UCC's programme for students in Digital Humanities includes BA (Hons) Digital Humanities & Information Technology, MA Digital Arts & Humanities and PhD Digital Arts & Humanities.

Student life

Clubs, societies and representation

University College Cork has over 100 active societies and 50 different sports clubs.UCC.ie – Facts and Figures about UCC – Sport 2010
There are academic, charitable, creative, gaming/role-playing, political, religious, and social societies and clubs incorporating field sports, martial arts, watersports as well outdoor and indoor team and individual sports. UCC clubs are sponsored by

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

, with the UCC Skull and Crossbones as the mascot for all UCC sports teams. 100 students received scholarships in 26 different sports in 2010. The activities of UCC's societies include charity work; with over €100,000 raised annually by the Surgeon Noonan society, €10,000 raised by the War Gaming and Role Playing Society (WARPS) through its international gaming convention Warpcon, €10,000 raised by the UCC Law Society for the Cambodia orphanage and the UCC Pharmacy Society supports the Cork Hospitals Children's Club every year with a number of events.UCC.ie – facts and figures Societies
UCC societies also sometimes attract high-profile speakers such as

Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...

who addressed the Law Society, Nick Leeson, and Senator David Norris, who was the 2009/2010 honorary president of the UCC Philosophical Society. ''An Chuallacht'' (, meaning "the fellowship") is UCC's

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

and culture society. Founded in 1912, this society promotes the Irish language, and was awarded the Glór na nGael "Irish Society of the Year Award" in 2009. The UCC Students' Union (UCCSU) acts as the representative body of the 17,000 students attending UCC. Each student is automatically a member by virtue of a student levy. The student-run radio station, "UCC 98.3FM", broadcasts on the campus.

Student accommodation

Accommodation for students is offered by UCC through a subsidiary company known as Campus Accommodation UCC DAC. UCC operate 5 accommodation complexes, including the Castlewhite Apartments (63 apartments/298 beds), Mardyke Hall (14 apartments/48 beds), In February 2020, UCC announced their decision to raise rent in the 2020/21 academic term by three-percent over the 2019/20 academic term rate. The announcement came after similar rent increases in university-owned accommodation throughout the country, and after increases in previous years to the rent of UCC-owned accommodation. This decision was met with backlash from student representatives, UCC staff, and local politicians. On 25 February 2020, the UCC Students' Union launched a campaign which demanded that UCC reverse the increase. A group of over 300 UCC staff members signed a petition in solidarity with the Students' Union. Several members of

Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...

also expressed opposition to the decision. In early March 2020, a spokesperson for the university said the increase was necessary due to refurbishment works, and a rise in security and maintenance costs.

International students

The largest number of the 2,400 international students at UCC in 2010 came from the United States, followed by China, France and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

.UCC.ie – Facts and Figures about UCC – Student figures 2010
UCC participates in the

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

program with 439 students visiting UCC in 2009–2010. 201 UCC students studied in institutions in the United States, China and Europe in the same period. UCC was rated highly in the 2008 International Student Barometer report.UCC.ie – UCC Top of the Class for International Students
This survey polled 67,000 international students studying at 84 institutions, and was carried out by the International Insight Group. The report held that 98% of UCC's international students (who participated in the survey) reported having "Expert Lecturers". And over 90% of these students said that they had "Good Teachers". In 3 categories of the survey, "sports facilities", "social facilities" and "university clubs and societies", UCC was in the top three of the 84 Institutions that took part in the survey. UCC's International Education Office was given a 93% satisfaction rating and UCC's IT Support was given a 92% satisfaction rating. In 2023, whilst studying there, Diana Vicezar launched a podcast covering the experiences of Hispanic and Latin-American students in Ireland.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the university include graduates from different disciplines. In arts and literature, alumni include novelist

Seán Ó Faoláin Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (27 February 1900 – 20 April 1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Biography Ó ...

, short-story writer Daniel Corkery, film director John Crowley, composers

Aloys Fleischmann Aloys Fleischmann (13 April 1910 – 21 July 1992) was an Irish composer, musicologist, professor and conductor. Early life and education Fleischmann was born in Munich to Ireland-based German parents. Both were musicians, both graduates of the ...

, Seán Ó Riada, musicologist Ita Beausang, musician

Julie Feeney Julie Feeney is a singer-songwriter, composer, actress, and record producer from Galway, Ireland. She produces and orchestrates her own work, composing both instrumental and electronic music, with full orchestrations. She is a three-time nomin ...

, author, academic and critic Robert Anthony Welch, actors

Fiona Shaw Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She did extensive work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, as well as in film and television. In 2020, she was listed at No. 29 o ...

and

Siobhán McSweeney Siobhán McSweeney (born 27 December 1979) is an Irish actress and presenter. She is best known for her role as Sister Michael in the teen sitcom ''Derry Girls'' which earned her a British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA British Acad ...

, novelist and poet William Wall, poets

Paul Durcan Paul Francis Durcan (16 October 1944 – 17 May 2025) was an Irish poet who was Ireland Professor of Poetry between 2004 and 2007. Early life and education Paul Francis Durcan was born in Dublin on 16 October 1944. He grew up in Dublin and s ...

, John Mee,

Liam Ó Muirthile Liam Ó Muirthile (15 November 1950 – 18 May 2018) was a prominent Irish-language poet who also wrote plays and novels, he was also a journalist. Ó Muirthile originally came to the fore as a member of a group of poets from University College Co ...

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (; born 1952) is a modern Irish poet whose works have been described as having a "major influence in revitalizing the Irish language in modern poetry". Biography Born in Lancashire, England, of Irish parents, she moved t ...

, Trevor Joyce, Thomas McCarthy,

Theo Dorgan Theo Dorgan is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter. He lives in Dublin. Life Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being the second child born into a family of eight boys and eight girls to par ...

, and Greg Delanty, novelist and archivist Orla Egan, singer SEARLS, comedian

Des Bishop Desmond Bishop (born 12 November 1975) is an American - Irish comedian. He was brought up in New York and moved to Ireland at the age of 14. He primarily resides there. Early life Bishop attended St. Francis Preparatory School in the Fresh M ...

, and journalists Brendan O'Connor, Ian Bailey, Samantha Barry,

Stefanie Preissner Stefanie Preissner (born 21 April 1987) is an Irish writer, actress, script supervisor and columnist. She is best known as the creator of comedy-drama '' Can't Cope, Won't Cope''. Early life An only child born in Munich, Germany, Preissner mov ...

and

Eoghan Harris Eoghan Harris (born 13 March 1943) is an Irish journalist, columnist, director, and former politician. He has held posts in various and diverse political parties. He was a leading theoretician in the Marxist-Leninist Workers' Party (previously ...

. Actor

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...

and BBC presenter

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...

both attended UCC but did not graduate. From the business community, alumni include

Kerry Group Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges. Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant i ...

's Denis Brosnan,

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...

's former CEO Gerry Murphy, former heads of CRH Anthony Barry and Myles Lee. In medicine, alumni include Sir

Edwin John Butler Sir Edwin John Butler (13 August 1874 – 4 April 1943) was an Irish mycologist and plant pathologist. He became the Imperial Mycologist in India and later the first director of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology in England. He was knighted in ...

, Charles Donovan, Patrick Parfrey, Sir Bertram Windle, Paul Whelton, and Pixie McKenna, doctor and TV presenter. In

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, alumni include Professor

Margaret Murnane Margaret Mary Murnane NAS AAA&S (born 23 January 1959) is an Irish physicist, who served as a distinguished professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, having moved there in 1999, with past positions at the University of Michig ...

of the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

, Professor Patrick G. O'Shea of the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, and Professor Séamus Davis of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. In mathematics alumni include Irish mathematicians

Seán Dineen Seán Dineen (12 February 1944 – 18 January 2024) was an Irish mathematician specialising in complex analysis. His academic career was spent, in the main, at University College Dublin (UCD) where he was Professor of Mathematics, serving as Head ...

, an expert in complex analysis, and Des MacHale, a leading researcher on

. Politicians and public servants that attended UCC include

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...

, former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...

, Supreme Court justice Liam McKechnie, senator Annie Hoey, and High Court judge Bryan MacMahon. André Ventura, founder of the Portuguese political party Chega, attended UCC as a graduate student. In religious communities alumni have included the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross,

Paul Colton William Paul Colton (born 13 March 1960) is an Irish Anglican bishop. Since 1999, he has served as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Church of Ireland. Biography Paul Colton attended St Luke's National School, Douglas, Cork, Cork Gram ...

, the first UCC graduate to be a Church of Ireland bishop. Some members of the

Saint Patrick's Society for the Foreign Missions St. Patrick's Missionary Society (Latin ''Societas Sancti Patritii pro Missionibus ad Exteros''; also known as the Kiltegan Fathers) is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men composed of missionary priests. Its headquar ...

(Kiltegan Fathers) took their civil degrees in UCC, including

Derek John Christopher Byrne Derek Byrne S.P.S. (born 17 January 1948) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church and a member of the St. Patrick's Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers) who was bishop of Primavera do Leste–Paranatinga in Brazil from 2014 to 2023. He was ...

, Catholic Bishop in Brazil, Maurice Anthony Crowley SPS in Kenya, John Alphonsus Ryan Bishop in Malawi, and John Magee who served as Bishop of Cloyne. Bishop of Kerry, Raymond Browne, holds a science degree from UCC. In sport, rugby coach

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year a ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

ers

Séamus Moynihan Séamus Moynihan is an Irish former Gaelic footballer from Shronedarraugh, a townland halfway between Barraduff and Glenflesk, County Kerry. He has played football for St Brendan's College, Glenflesk, East Kerry, University College Cork, ...

, Maurice Fitzgerald and Billy Morgan, hurlers Pat Heffernan, Joe Deane,

James "Cha" Fitzpatrick James "Cha" Fitzpatrick (born 31 January 1985) is an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder for the Kilkenny senior team. Born in Knockmoylan, County Kilkenny, Fitzpatrick first played competitive hurling during his schooling at St. Kieran ...

and

Ray Cummins Maurice Raymond "Ray" Cummins (born 9 November 1948) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer whose dual league and championship career with the Cork senior teams spanned fifteen years from 1967 to 1982. Born in Ballinlough on the so ...

, rugby players Edwin Edogbo,

Moss Keane Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane (27 July 1948 – 5 October 2010) was a Gaelic footballer and a rugby union footballer who played for Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. Life and career Born at Currow in County Kerry, Keane started out as a Ga ...

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland's third most-capped player and second highest points scorer. He i ...

and Donnacha Ryan, and Olympian Lizzie Lee have all attended UCC.

Notable academics

was the first professor of mathematics at UCC. He developed

Boolean algebra In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is a branch of algebra. It differs from elementary algebra in two ways. First, the values of the variable (mathematics), variables are the truth values ''true'' and ''false'', usually denot ...

that would later make computer programming possible. *

, composer and musicologist, was professor of music 1934–1980 * Michael Grimes, first UCC Professor of Microbiology *

Máire Herbert Máire R. M. Herbert , also known as Mary Herbert, is an Irish historian and academic, specialising in early medieval Irish history and Irish saints. She is Emeritus Professor of Early and Medieval Irish at University College Cork, and was prev ...

MRIA, historian of early medieval Ireland * Kathleen O'Flaherty, professor of French literature and awarded chevalier in the Ordre national du mérite by the French government * Mary Ryan, the first woman in Ireland or Great Britain to be a university professor, was a professor of romance languages at UCC * Eoin O'Reilly,* researcher of

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radi ...

and strained-layer laser structures * J.C. Séamus Davis, Professor of Quantum Physics. Awarded the Buckley Prize (2023) for innovative visualization of complex quantum states of matter

List of presidents

* 1845 to 1873: Sir Robert Kane; first president * 1873 to 1890: William Kirby Sullivan * 1890 to 1896: James W. Slattery * 1897 to 1904: Sir Rowland Blennerhassett * 1904 to 1919: Bertram Windle * 1919 to 1943: Patrick J. Merriman * 1943 to 1954:

* 1954 to 1963: Henry St John Atkins * 1964 to 1967: John J. McHenry * 1967 to 1978: Donal McCarthy * 1978 to 1988: Tadhg Ó Ciardha * 1989 to 1999: Michael Mortell * 1999 to 2007: Gerard Wrixon * 2007 to 2017: Michael Murphy * 2017 to 2020: Patrick G. O'Shea * 2021 to Present: John O'Halloran

Arms

References

External links

*
Students' UnionCork University Press
*Annual Reports of President of Queen's College, Cork
1849–511851–19001901–1909
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Cork (city) Universities and colleges established in 1845 Education in Cork (city)

Tourist attractions in Cork (city) 1845 establishments in Ireland Organisations based in Cork (city)