The University Archives’ collections contain records from 1845 onwards, charting the development of the University to the present day. Further information on collections, access, and outreach activities involving collections may be found above.

The Queen’s Colleges in Cork, Galway, and Belfast were created on the granting of royal assent to the Colleges (Ireland) Act, 1845, on 31 July of that year. Queen’s College Cork (QCC) formally came into existence under a royal charter of 30 December 1845. The university body, the Queen’s University in Ireland (QUI), was incorporated on 3 September 1850.

Construction of QCC’s main quadrangle building began in 1847, and first lectures to students took place on 7 November 1849. 115 students were enrolled in that first session. QCC’s first president was Sir Robert Kane, and its original teaching staff included George Boole, professor of Mathematics.

In 1882, the QUI was dissolved and a new University body, the Royal University of Ireland (RUI), was created. This led the way to the first admission of woman students, which took place in QCC in 1886-87.

The Irish Universities Act, 1908, created two universities – the National University of Ireland (NUI) and Queen’s University Belfast - and a new charter was issued on 2 December 1908, changing the name of QCC to University College Cork. Under the Universities Act, 1997, UCC became a university, within the NUI structure.