The UCC Confucius Institute is excited to announce its participation in Cork Culture Night 2024 with an engaging and immersive Cultural Night event. Taking place on Friday, September 20th from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, this special occasion will be hosted at the UCC Boole Library, Student Social Area (Q Floor), offering participants a unique opportunity to experience the beauty and richness of Chinese culture.

This year’s Cultural Night promises to be a dynamic blend of hands-on activities, traditional arts, and engaging demonstrations, providing a perfect evening for everyone—whether you're already familiar with Chinese culture or discovering it for the first time.

The Cork Lifelong Learning Festival, an annual extravaganza, is set to kick off in 2024, and Confucius Institute at University College Cork, as one of the organizers, eagerly awaits your participation!

St. Patrick's Day, known as Ireland's national holiday commemorating its patron saint, St. Patrick, took center stage in Cork City on March 17, 2024. The National Day Parade, themed "Pure Imagination 2024," featured nearly 4,000 participants forming dozens of parade units, attracting over 50,000 enthusiastic spectators from both Ireland and abroad.

This event was supported by various entities including the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, Cork City Council, Cork County Council and University College Cork, the event attracted nearly a thousand attendees, including overseas Chinese, international students, and local communities.

This prestigious summit, supported by a consortium of educational organizations, including Language Connect, Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI), the Department of Education, and more, stands as one of Ireland's most prominent events in modern foreign language education.

On 22 April 2023, the final of the 16th "Chinese Bridge"  Competition for Secondary School Students in Ireland, organised by the Chinese Embassy in Ireland and hosted by the Confucius Institute in Cork, was successfully held at the Kingsley Hotel in Cork City.

On 22 April, the Confucius Institute at University College Cork (UCC) hosted the final of the 16th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Secondary School Students in Ireland and the Chinese Language Day Cultural Performance to celebrate International Chinese Language Day, showcasing the charm of Chinese language and culture in a variety of ways.

On 14 April 2022, the 22nd Chinese Bridge Competition for University Students in Ireland, hosted by the Confucius Institute in Dublin, was successfully concluded. Four students from the Confucius Institute at UCC participated in the competition, among which the third-year student Thirsa Mcnamara impressed the audience with her speech and unique talent display, and finally won the second prize. Daire McCann, a freshman from Confucius Classroom in Maynooth, also won the third prize with his outstanding performance.

On the 17th of March 2023, UCC Confucius Institute took part in Cork's St. Patrick's Day parade, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of China to the people of Ireland. With over 100 participants in the team, the event was a huge success and provided an excellent opportunity for the Chinese community in Cork to experience the vibrant Irish culture.

The 16th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency  Competition is organized by the Education Sector of the Chinese Embassy in Ireland and hosted by The Confucius Institute at UCC. The aim of the competition is to enhance students' understanding of the Chinese language and culture and promote cultural exchange between Ireland and China.

On 11 February 2023, nearly fifty teachers from the Confucius Institute at University College Cork, Ireland, the Confucius Institute at University College Dublin, Ireland and the Confucius Institute at Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland participated in a friendly competition for the exchange of Chinese teaching skills between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the UK. Six of our teachers came to the Confucius Institute at Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland to participate in this event.

The Confucius Institute at University College CORK kicked off its Year of the Rabbit Chinese New Year Celebration on February 4, 2023, with over 400 attendees including representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, the Lord Mayor of Cork City, the representative of Cork County, the Vice President of the University of Cork, and the Directors of Confucius Institutes from all over Ireland and Northern Ireland, among others.

On the evening of October 21, 2022, the 15th-anniversary celebration of the Confucius Institute at UCC was held in Cork City Hall. Leaders and guests from Cork City Council, Cork County Council, the Chinese Embassy in Ireland, sister Confucius Institutes, and friends from all walks of life in Ireland attended the milestone event, which was witnessed by a total of more than eight hundred people.

On October 21, 2022, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cork, the Confucius Institute held a "CI and Me" conference in Cork City Hall to review the history and look forward to the future. More than 60 people were invited and attended the conference. 

Tai Chi

This summer camp is organized by UCC CI and will hold in Cork and Limerick from late June to early August. There will be various courses provided aiming at introducing Chinese ancient literature to young learners, such as poems, Three Character Classic, stories of Chinese idioms and etc., as well as helping them gain more understanding of a different culture via engaging in different activities. More course details can be found in the flyer down below.

In order to strengthen the understanding of the language and culture of Ireland, promote the teachers' integration into the local teaching and life, and enhance the friendship between them, the UCC CI hired an Irish teacher, Professor Pádraig ó Flaitheartaigh, to conduct a ten-week Irish language course.

 Through the ten weeks of Irish language lessons, teachers learned how to use Irish to greet, introduce themselves, express numbers, colours, dates, time, family members, weather expressions, etc. They also had a chance to learn more about this country, which was a very rewarding and interesting experience. 

At the end of the lesson, the professor said that this was the last Irish lesson and thanked everyone for their enthusiasm and shared with them some delicious homemade cookies.

The 21st Chinese-Bridge Proficiency Competition for Irish College Students was held at the Confucius Institute at University College Dublin(UCD) on April 24. Four contestants from UCC alongwith other 15 college students from other colleges in Ireland took part in a two-round competition in one day.

The 15th Chinese-Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Secondary School Students in Ireland is open for registration now. Here are some key information:

1. Event Date : April 23, 2022
2. Venue: Kingsley Hotel, Victoria Cross, Cork
3. Eligible Participants: Non-Chinese native speakers in Ireland, aged 15-20
4. Registration Deadline: April 17, 2022

5. Content of the contest:

   · A one-minute in Chinese around the them" fly high with Chinese".

   · A talent show( individual or in group)

   · A Question & Answer session (common knowlodege about Chinese culture, Chinese history etc..)

Please contact ucccichinesebridge@gmail.com for registraion or further inquires. 

On the March 17th, at the invitation of Cork municipal government, the Confucius Institute at the UCC formed a group of more than 80 people including CI teachers, volunteer Chinese teachers, students from Chinese Students' Association of UCC, local Chinese community and foreign friends participated in this very event of celebration took place in Cork city center on St. Patrick’s Day, which is considered as the Irish National Day.

On the 20^th of January 2022, Confucius Institute at University College Cork( UCC CI)  held the online Spring Festival on both YouTube and Bilibili. This live streaming event attracted almost 2500 audiences from Ireland, China, Thailand and other countries.

On the 20^th of January 2022, Confucius Institute at University College Cork( UCC CI)  held the online Spring Festival on both YouTube and Bilibili. This live streaming event attracted almost 2500 audiences from Ireland, China, Thailand and other countries.

The 14th Chinese-Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Irish Secondary School Students was held online on the 29th of May 2021. 

Marium Baig and Ciara Jayne Corbett who study Chinese Studies at UCC have won Second Prize and Third Prize of 2020 Dr. Henry Hutchinson Stewart Literary Prize respectively.

Confucius Institute Chinese Business Training Program is a language training course intended to prepare working professionals for international commerce with business partners from China.

Since the launch of the Chinese Summer Courses with a variety of levels to meet different learning needs: Beginner, Intermediate, as well as Oral practice courses. The courses have received very positive feedback.

UCC’s Confucius Institute recently won the Confucius Institute of the Year Award at the Global Confucius Institute Conference, the 2019 International Chinese Language Education Conference held at Changsha, China. 

UCC’s Confucius Institute successfully held Chinese Spring Festival Gala to celebrate the 2020 Chinese New Year on the evening of January 30, local time in Ireland, the Spring Festival Gala was prepared for four months, and all the performances were performed by teachers and students from China and Ireland.

“Beauty and Love Between China and Ireland” Photograph Exhibition and Award Ceremony was held at Boole Library, UCC on 23rdof September 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Ireland.

To celebrate the New Year of the Pig, UCC Confucius Institute will be hosting its 2019 Spring Festival Gala in conjunction with The Cork City Council in the Cork City Hall on Feb. 18^th 2019 between 19:00 to 20:30

On April 7th, 2018 the Irish leg of the 17th World University Chinese Bridge Competition was held Dublin

On April 16^th, President Jin Donghan of Shanghai University led a delegation to visit UCC and had meetings with UCC President Patrick O’Shea and Deputy President and Registrar John O’Halloran along with acting head of the UCC Confucius Institute, Chris Williams.

From March 27^th to 4^th April 2018,108 TY students from schools in Cork, Maynooth, Galway, Limerick and Waterford attended the CI Chinese Language Easter Camp held by Hanban in cooperation with Shanghai University.

The Confucius Institute at Cork University collaborates with the Cork City Government to participate in the Dragon Boat Race On April 21, 2018 to coincide with the annual Cork Maritime Festival, a Dragon Boat Challenge was held at the Port of Cochry in the afternoon

In order to promote Chinese culture and friendly exchanges between China and Ireland,  the Confucius Institute of UCC organized activities on Nov 14^th at the UCC Staff Restaurant.

Signaled the commencement of winter, one of the 24 solar period in China.  Eating dumplings in winter is a traditional custom of Northern China

The ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of UCC Confucius Institute was held in Aula Maxima. 

At 6pm on the 7th February Irish time, UCC CI successfully held their 2018 Chinese New Year Celebration. Department of Asian Studies strongly supported the occasion.

On the 26th of April 2017, UCC’s Confucius Institute was delighted to visit Johnson and Johnson’s Cork facility. The purpose of the visit was to deliver the first of a series of classes aimed at introducing the companies staff to Chinese language and culture.

Owing to the great success of our last session, UCC’s Confucius Institute are beginning a new Kung Fu class in Sheraton court.

On March 17th the University College Cork CI was invited by the city government to march alongside members of the local community in the city’s St. Patricks Day parade.

The Chinese Culture Exhibition which is prepared by Confucius Institute at University College Cork for the last four months was invited to the Cork City Hall. The Chinese Culture Exhibition mainly covered photo exhibition of contemporary Chinese cities, paper-cutting, calligraphy, tea ceremony, Kung fu show, Chinese lucky knots  and Guzheng performances(A traditional Chinese musical instrument). As one of the most important themes of Confucius Institute Day series, currently, Chinese Culture Exhibition impressed local people with a rich form of activities to increase mutual interactions between two nations and therefore enhance cultural intimacy between two cultures.

 With  2018-2019 academic year approaching, the Confucius Institute of University College Cork (UCC) held  one-week induction for the new Chinese teachers.

UCC CI held the 15th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Irish Secondary School Students in Cork on April 23, Saturday. This is the first event of this kind held offline at UCC CI since the global pandemic .