As life opens up once again on campus, Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC, discusses steering the university through the most difficult period in its history, and his ambitious plans for the future. In conversation with Marjorie Brennan. 

The news of Professor Emeritus and University Historian John A. Murphy’s recent death gave the university pause to reflect on the life and legacy of a man who was synonymous with ‘the College’, as his friend and former colleague Professor Tom Dunne writes. 

Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin is the lead of Inks and Skins, an Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate project seeking to unlock the secrets of ancient Irish manuscripts. Here, Pádraig and researchers Anna Hoffmann and Veronica Biolcati share how combining the humanities with science can offer new insights into our heritage. In conversation with Jane Haynes.

Bíonn an Ghaeilge le clos ar fud na hOllscoile sna laethanta seo, i measc an aosa óig go háirithe. Féachann siad rompu le misneach agus le fuinneamh agus cuid dá saol is ea an teanga. Focail le Phádraig Ó Macháin.

Alicia O’Sullivan, Quercus Active Citizenship Scholar* and founder of Safety Over Stigma, and Professor Louise Crowley, Director of the Bystander Intervention Programme, talk activism and combating gender-based violence with Alana Daly Mulligan.

Content warning: This piece refers to issues relating to sexual harassment, image-based sexual abuse and gender-based violence. Reader discretion is advised.

At the height of the COVID pandemic, JP Quinn brought the global UCC community together through his ingenious Old Bar floorboards project. Here, the Head of the Visitors’ Centre discusses the stories behind the campaign and why, years after its closure, the Old Bar is still capturing our imaginations. In conversation with Jane Haynes.

‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ The famous statement, attributed to Sir Isaac Newton, embodies the spirit of scientific advancement shown by two APC Microbiome Ireland researchers at UCC, Julie Callanan and Stephen Stockdale, when they discovered thousands of rare RNA viruses. To acknowledge the foundational research of Professor John Atkins, upon which their work built, they named a family of the newly discovered viruses after him, as Nancy Hawkes discovered.

Orla Egan discusses the development of the Cork LGBTQ Archive, Ireland’s first county-specific archive project dedicated to Queer memory. In conversation with Alana Daly Mulligan.

Sidney V. Regan’s decision to leave this legacy to UCC’s Department of Music will uphold the vision of those who originally developed Cork’s strong musical culture in nurturing and developing Cork’s future musical talent and heritage.