University College Dublin

UCD can trace its history to the institution founded in 1854 as the Catholic University of Ireland. Renamed University College in 1883 and put under the control of the Jesuits in 1883, it became University College Dublin in 1908, a constituent college of the National University of Ireland under the Universities Act. As a result of these efforts, a new "Catholic University of Ireland" opened in 1854 on St Stephen's Green, with John Henry Newman appointed as its first rector. Henry Neville was appointed Rector to replace Woodlock. In 1880, the Royal University of Ireland was established and allowed students from any college to take examinations for a degree. Foundation of University College Dublin , Dublin. The former location of the UCD science and engineering faculties. Opened by King George V in 1905 In 1882, Catholic University reorganised, and the St Stephen's Green institution (the former Arts school of the Catholic University) run by the Irish Jesuits, was renamed University College, and it began participating in the Royal University system. In 1883, Fr William Delany SJ was appointed the first president of University College. The college attracted academics from around Ireland, including Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins and James Joyce. Some notable staff and students at the school during this period included Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Patrick Pearse, Hugh Kennedy, Hannah O'Leary, Eoin MacNeill, Kevin O'Higgins, Tom Kettle, James Ryan, Douglas Hyde and John A. Costello. , one of the leading Victorian poets of the 19th Century, Professor of Greek and Latin In 1908, the National University of Ireland was founded and the following year the Royal University was dissolved. This new university was brought into existence with three constituent University Colleges – Dublin, Galway and Cork. In 1911, land donated by Lord Iveagh helped the university expand in Earlsfort Terrace/Hatch Street/ St Stephen's Green. Iveagh Gardens was part of this donation. {{Infobox COA wide UCD and the Irish War of Independence UCD is a major holder of archives of national and international significance relating to the Irish War of Independence. In 1913, in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, Eóin MacNeill, professor of early Irish history, called for the formation of an Irish nationalist force to counteract it. The Irish Volunteers were formed later that year and MacNeill was elected its Chief-of-staff. At the outbreak of World War I, in view of the Home Rule Act 1914 and the political perception that it might not be implemented, the leader of the Home Rule Party, John Redmond, urged the Irish Volunteers to support the British war effort as a way of supporting Irish Home Rule. In 1933, Belfield House was purchased for sporting purposes. Architecture The new campus was largely designed by A&D Wejchert & Partners Architects and includes several notable structures, including the UCD Water Tower which was built in 1972 by John Paul Construction. The Tower won the 1979 Irish Concrete Society Award. It stands 60 metres high with a dodecahedron tank atop a pentagonal pillar. The Tower is part of the UCD Environmental Research Station. O'Reilly Hall, opened in 1994, was designed by the Irish architecture firm Scott Tallon Walker. 1950–2000 In 1964, Jeremiah Hogan was appointed president and Thomas E. Nevin led the science faculty to move to a new campus at Belfield. Also that year, UCD became the first university in Europe to launch an MBA programme. In 1967, Donogh O'Malley proposed a plan to merge UCD and Trinity. Between 1969 and 1970, the Faculties of Commerce, Arts and Law moved to Belfield. In 1973, the library opened. From the 1980s until his death in January 2021, a solitary, non-verbal homeless man affectionately known as Old Man Belfield became a fixture of campus life at Belfield, becoming well known to students and staff alike. The man, whose real name was Michael Byrne, slept rough on campus for the last 30, if not 40 years, of his life. Despite not speaking, he came to be "loved and respected by generations of students and staff" and accepted as "part of the UCD community". During the 1990s, some of the students of Women's Studies, led by Niamh Nolan, petitioned to rename their Gender Studies building after Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington to honour her contribution to women's rights and equal access to third-level education. Her husband Francis Sheehy-Skeffington was himself an alumnus of the university and Hanna of the Royal University, a sister university of UCD. Their campaign was successful and the building was renamed the Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington Building. In 1990, UCD purchased Carysfort College, Blackrock, and became the location of the Smurfit Graduate school of business. The first student village, Belgrove, opened that year as well. In 1992, the second student village, Merville, opened and the Centre for Film studies was established. In 1993, Art Cosgrove was appointed president. 2000s In 2003, NovaUCD, a Euro Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, opened. In 2004, Hugh Brady was appointed president. In 2006, UCD Horizons begins. In 2009, Trinity and UCD announce the Innovation Alliance. In 2010, NCAD and UCD form an academic alliance. In 2012 the expanded Student and Sports Centre opened. In 2012, the college closed the athletics track and field facilities and students demanded an apology. In 2013, the UCD O'Brien Centre for Science opened and the UCD Sutherland School of Law opened. It is now the largest Common Law law school in the European Union. In 2015, UCD opened a global centre in the US. In 2019, UCD became the first Irish university to launch a Black Studies module, coordinated by Dr Ebun Joseph and Prof Kathleen Lynch. In March 2022 Prof Andrew Deeks resigned to take up the role of vice-Chancellor at Murdoch University, in Perth, Western Australia. Prof Mark Rogers was appointed acting president. == Academic ==