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Learn from our vibrant community of legal scholars.
UCC School of Law
Our students learn from those who are currently conducting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and contributing to national and international debate in their fields.
Meet established legal professionals & explore real-world issues
UCC School of Law
Our School's Clinical & Law in Practice modules offer students the opportunity to engage with established legal professionals who can provide real-life perspectives on legal and policy matters in a variety of sectors.
Many of our graduates pursue successful careers in the legal professions, for example as barristers, solicitors or in-house legal counsels. Others find their place in a wide variety of alternative fields, from business to journalism, NGO work to academia.
University College Cork offers a range of law courses for undergraduate and postgraduate level with specialisations in our key research areas. Our taught programmes build on the expertise and reputation of the School of Law's highly successful academics and offer world-class education to help you achieve a successful career.
Graduates of University College Cork's School of Law have gone on to highly prestigious careers in the legal professions, the judiciary, the civil service, non-governmental organisations, and international institutions such as the United Nations and the European Union.
Professional Qualifications
Legal education has been at the heart of University College Cork (UCC) since its establishment in 1845. For the past 170 years, the School of Law has helped to shape a just society by training generations of Irish solicitors, barristers, judges and academics. UCC's School of Law has also become a centre of international excellence with students from all over the world graduating from our undergraduate and postgraduate taught and research law degrees.
Law Society of Ireland
Graduates from UCC School of Law’s BCL and LLB degrees are exempt from the preliminary examinations undertaken by the Law Society of Ireland and can apply directly to sit the Law Society’s FE1 exams. For more information about the procedure for qualification as a solicitor in Ireland, visit our Qualifying for Legal Practice page.
Bar Council of Ireland
Graduates from UCC School of Law’s BCL and LLB degrees are eligible to undertake the entrance examination for the Honourable Society of King’s Inns. For more information about the procedure for qualification as a barrister in Ireland, visit our Qualifying for Legal Practice page.
Qualifying for Legal Practice in different countries
With a law degree from UCC, you can qualify for Legal Practice in countries all over the world. Learn more on our Qualifying for Legal Practice page.
UCC School of Law
World Class Legal Education
The School of Law is in the top 100 Law Schools in the world, Climbing to 73rd in the World. (QS Global Law School rankings, 2024).
Promoting Teaching & Learning
UCC is ranked in the top 50 universities in Europe for teaching and learning (Times Higher Education Teaching rankings, 2019)
Environmental Sustainability
UCC is ranked 9th globally in the UI Green Metric World University Ranking of sustainable universities and was the first higher education institution in the world to achieve ISO 50001 certification for energy management.
UCC has also been awarded a gold rating under the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) STARS programme. For more information on UCC's environmental sustainability programmes, see: http://greencampus.ucc.ie/about/
Undergraduate Degree Programmes
The School of Law offers seven undergraduate programmes at Level 8 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). They are all recognised by the Law Society of Ireland and King’s Inns (the professional bodies regulating the Solicitors' and Barristers' professions in Ireland).
We offer law programmes across all areas of law, reflecting our research strengths. In particular, we offer masters programmes in business law, law, technology & innovation, children's rights and family law, international human rights law, environmental and natural resources law, marine and maritime law. We also offer an LLB postgraduate degree.
Our various Law Clinics provide a bridge between our academic teaching and research work and litigation, civil society, advocacy and law reform. Students and academics collaborate on submissions to law reform processes and on producing research briefs that support the work of civil society groups or lawyers engaged in litigation.
Notable examples include the work of the Child Law Clinic on securing redress for survivors of sexual abuse in National Schools, which helped to secure rulings by the European Court of Human Rights in the Louise O’Keeffe case in 2014, and by the Government’s Independent Assessor in 2019.
The Family Law Clinic website provides accessible legal information on aspects of the family law system for interested members of the public.
At the IT Law Clinic, students provide legal information to startups on issues such as copyright, data protection and selling online. The clinic is the first such clinic in any Irish university and provides an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge of these dynamic legal areas to real-life problems faced by businesses.
The UCC Sports Law Clinic, the only undergraduate clinic of its kind in the world, provides a unique opportunity for students to directly engage with real clients, ranging from professional to amateur clients both within and outside of UCC in areas such as child protection, disciplinary hearings, negligence, transfers and governance.
Research Programmes
UCC School of Law hosts Ireland’s most successful graduate research programmes in Law.
PhD and LLM Research
Researchers are provided with an unparalleled experience within a well-established and vibrant community of over 40 graduate researchers.
Student Testimonial: Hannah, LLM Environmental and Natural Resources
LLM Environmental and Natural Resources Law student, Hannah, reflects on her experience in UCC School of Law and speaks about the support she received from members of faculty and UCC's International Office.
Sneha Jheetay, an Indian alumnus, graduated from the School of Law in 2022. A recipient of the Government of Ireland Scholarship, Sneha reflects on her time studying in UCC in this video.
LLM Intellectual Property and E-Law student, Nura, reflects on her experience studying at UCC School of Law. Coming from an IT background, Nura is studying this LLM to enhance her knowledge and to protect intellectual creation and innovation.
International Student 's, Yue and Bao speak about their experience of studying the LLM in UCC, while Dr Shaoming Zhu speaks about the School's offerings for international students.
