2023
‘A distinguished and prolific historian’
Dermot Keogh (1945-2023), who passed away yesterday, Wednesday September 6, was a distinguished and prolific historian of many aspects of Ireland in the 20th century - labour history, the Irish Jewish community, Irish diplomatic history, church-state relations, Irish connections with Latin America especially Argentina and Irish political and constitutional history.
A graduate of UCD (BA and MA), Dermot was the first recipient of a PhD in History and Civilisation from the European University Institute, Florence. He worked first in the Irish Press and RTE as a journalist but the rest of his career from 1980 was spent as an academic at University College Cork’s School of History. He was Jean Monnet professor in the School between 1990 and 1996, professor of history from 1997, and served as head of department from 2002 to 2009. He retired in 2010 but continued researching and writing.
Reflecting on his passing, Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC stated, "Dermot made a huge contribution to our understanding of twentieth century Ireland. He was part of the fabric of UCC for many years and will be deeply missed here. We extend our sympathies to his wife Ann and all the family."
“Dermot was a distinguished and prolific historian of many aspects of Ireland in the 20th century - labour history, the Irish Jewish community, Irish diplomatic history, Irish connections with Latin America especially Argentina and Irish political and constitutional history including a biography of Jack Lynch. Dermot was a generous, affable and genuinely humane individual who will be greatly missed by all who knew him" stated Dr Hiram Morgan, Head of UCC’s School of History.
Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, Dr Maurice Manning said;
"Professor Dermot Keogh's contribution to the development of Irish historical studies was immense. His scholarly publications, often based on ground breaking research covered many aspects of twentieth century Irish history, especially in the areas of Church-State relations and foreign policy. He was a fine teacher and a great encourager of emerging talent. His enthusiasm for his subject was contagious and he made a huge contribution to the development of historical studies in his beloved UCC. Most of all he was a decent, generous and honourable man who will be greatly missed."