UCC welcomes President Connolly to campus

27 May 2026

University College Cork welcomed Uachtarán na hÉireann, Catherine Connolly, to campus on Wednesday, 27 May 2026, during an official visit celebrating Irish language, culture, and education initiatives at the university. 

President Connolly first visited Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne. The partnership between UCC and Terence MacSwiney Community College in Knocknaheeny has been ongoing for almost ten years. The visit highlighted this long-standing collaboration through the Barr na gCnoc project, which has been instrumental in developing an inspiring community partnership that has established Irish language education as a social enabler in DEIS schools, and now includes one secondary and five primary schools. 

President Connolly was then received by Professor John O’Halloran, alongside invited guests and university representatives, in UCC’s President’s Office, where she signed the Visitors’ Book and was presented with a commemorative gift. 

President Connolly viewed the renowned Book of Lismore and was presented with a specially commissioned copy of Fill Arís by Sean Ó Ríordáin. Having addressed staff and students, the President listened to a performance from UCC's Traditional Music Society. Her visit concluded with a visit to the current exhibition of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in the Boole Library.