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Dr Alan McCarthy (1992-2024)
Alan McCarthy (1992-2024) was a brilliant young historian. His tragic passing has devastated his many friends and colleagues in UCC and far beyond.
Alan was a stellar student throughout his UCC career, winning multiple awards, prizes and bursaries at undergraduate and postgraduate levels from 2011 onwards. In 2014 he received first-class honours for his MA on Cork newspapers during the war of independence, and developed on this theme for his PhD thesis, under the supervision of Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil. He was awarded a PhD for ‘Press, Politics and Revolution: Newspapers and Journalism in Cork, 1910-23’ in 2018, which was adapted for publication as Newspapers and Journalism in Cork, 1910-23: Press, politics and revolution (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2020) and stands as a pioneering contribution to both Irish media history and the history of the Irish revolution.
Alan performed sterling work as a tutor in the School of History and was Head Tutor, 2016-18. He guest-lectured in the School of History and also lectured on the evening certificate course in Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) at UCC from 2017, as well as delivering multiple conference papers and publishing several peer-reviewed articles. From 2015 to 2020 he worked as a researcher with the Michael Collins House Museum in Clonakilty, contributing their excellent information panels. In 2021 he was appointed a postdoctoral research fellow, affiliated with ACE and the School of History, which resulted in the publication of The Laurels: Adult Education and Lifelong Learning at UCC, 1946-2022 (Cork, 2023), a landmark publication in Irish education history. Alan had begun part-time lecturing in the School of History at UCC and was completing his forthcoming centenary history of the Cork City School Sports when he was struck down by illness in the summer of 2023.
His death on 18 August 2024 was a massive blow to his wife Sarah, parents Pat and Berna and siblings Barry, Lyn, Emer and Don. It has also deprived us in the School of History, and all in the Irish historical community, of a cherished colleague and outstanding scholar.
A special new prize to remember Alan will be inaugurated at the next School of History prize-giving ceremony in February 2025. The prize will be awarded for the best master’s dissertation in Irish History, recalling Alan’s outstanding achievement as a research historian.
May he rest in peace.