UCC celebrates the launch of ‘Making News in Renaissance Europe’ by Professor Brendan Dooley

12 Jun 2026

• New book explores how the regular public transmission of news became one of the great inventions of the Renaissance.
• Launch event marked Professor Brendan Dooley’s retirement from University College Cork.

University College Cork (UCC) marked the retirement of Professor Brendan Dooley, Professor of Renaissance Studies, with a special event celebrating his distinguished academic career and the launch of his new book, Making News in Renaissance Europe, published by Cambridge University Press.

Colleagues, collaborators, students and friends gathered to honour Professor Dooley’s outstanding contribution to scholarship, teaching, and interdisciplinary research during his time at UCC and throughout an international academic career spanning four countries.

Professor Dooley’s latest publication explores one of the Renaissance’s most transformative developments: the emergence of the regular public transmission of news. Making News in Renaissance Europe examines how governments, merchants, writers, and administrators shaped the early systems of news gathering and distribution across Europe, first through handwritten newsletters and later through printed news sheets. The book also considers the lasting impact of these developments on public discourse, communication, and democratic societies.

Commenting on the publication, Professor Dooley said: “News about current events has a significant effect on our democracies, and the quality of news has been at issue from a very early stage.  And no wonder.  From the very first, making news involved a battle for public attention between the different parties concerned:  governments and churches, administrators and private persons.  For this Element I set out to capture the earliest mechanisms for compiling news and distributing it regularly throughout Europe, along with the impact of this on societies in the age of the Renaissance and beyond.”

Reflecting on his academic career, Professor Dooley added: “For a long time I’ve been interested in the history of knowledge and communication in early modern Europe. A career involving academic appointments in four countries gave ample opportunity for exploring these themes, and coming to UCC in 2009 I had the chance to work in a truly transdisciplinary way. In the Euronews Project, funded by the Irish Research Council, I set out to capture the earliest mechanisms for compiling news and distributing it regularly throughout Europe, along with the impact of this on societies in the age of the Renaissance and beyond. This Element summarizes that research, adding other pieces of the wider picture.”

Professor Stephen Graham, Head of UCC College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, said: “Since joining UCC in 2009 as Professor of Renaissance Studies, Professor Brendan Dooley has made a remarkable contribution to research, postgraduate education, and interdisciplinary scholarship across the University. Through initiatives including the Digital Arts and Humanities PhD programme and the IRC-funded EURONEWS project, his work has helped shape innovative research culture at UCC while advancing international scholarship on communication and media in early modern Europe. As we celebrate his retirement and the publication of Making News in Renaissance Europe, we thank Brendan for his outstanding contribution to UCC and wish him every happiness in the future.”