News
Tom Dunne (1942-2025)
The School of History is deeply saddened by the passing of our former colleague, Tom Dunne, after a short illness. Tom was Professor Emeritus of History following upon his retirement from UCC in 2004, after over 27 years of dedication to research and teaching in Cork. This long period does not include some of the very happy years after his retirement when he was teaching the history of Irish Art part-time at UCC, which complemented the curatorial assistance he gave to the Crawford Art Gallery, especially in the organisation of exhibitions and provision of catalogues on Cork artists, James Barry and Daniel Maclise.
Among his many outstanding achievements as an academic, Tom’s 2004 publication Rebellions: Memoir, Memory and 1798 was awarded the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize. Apart from combining some of his enduring research interests, the book provides a unique, original and highly valuable insight into growing up in Ireland in the 1940s and 50s, and the religious ethos and culture of small-town rural Ireland in this period. The memoir section of the book progresses on to Tom’s experience as a History student in UCD from 1964, where he relished the exposure to new, critical perspectives on Irish history. This inspired him to further post-graduate study, an MA in UCC, a PhD in Peterhouse, Cambridge, all leading to his appointment as a lecturer in the Irish History Department at UCC in 1977. Here he researched and wrote widely on 18th and 19th century Irish history, contributing significantly to debates about post-colonialism, revisionism and the public commemoration of history.
Tom recorded his appreciation of his long years in UCC in his memoir, the warm friendships with colleagues such as John A. Murphy, and many others across the university. He also acknowledged that his primary privilege working in UCC was in his engagement with students. Always a popular lecturer, some of his former students have gone on to achieve considerable distinction and successful academic careers in UCC and elsewhere, with core research interests often linking back to some of Tom’s undergraduate modules. His sense of pride in this was recorded in his most recent publication The good boy: a life re-examined (Cork University Press, 2024).
Tom served as Dean of Arts in the 1990s, when the college was undergoing major expansion, and he was deeply engaged by college affairs. He made his final visit to UCC only weeks ago, to launch the new Cork University Press exhibition in the UCC library. His speech at the launch was a reminder of his very considerable publishing legacy. Tom was a co-founder and editor of The Irish Review (1986-2003). He became managing editor of Cork University Press in 2003, and helped see the CUP through challenging times, with numerous major volumes being published by CUP which gained national and international acclaim. These included the award-winning and monumental volume James Barry’s Murals at the Royal Society of Arts (CUP 2016), to which Tom was majorly committed, and which (along with the groundbreaking Atlas series) underscored the CUP’s ability to compete with academic presses on a global scale. It was most fitting that Tom was chosen to speak at the exhibition launch. The contribution to publishing is a part of his remarkable overall legacy, which we will appreciate increasingly into the future.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
This appreciation was composed by Rory O’Dwyer on behalf of the School of History.
Tom’s funeral arrangements can be found at the following link:
https://rip.ie/death-notice/tom-dunne-wexford-new-ross-591587