News
Inaugural Study of Religions Undergraduate Prizes Awarded
Students from our Study of Religions undergraduate programme have been awarded inaugural prizes for their excellence in academic writing:
Rebecca Desbordes and Finn Mac Callum received the Isabella Honan Essay Prize for the best first year essays.
Alice Stapleton was awarded the Brian Bocking Dissertation Prize for the best final year dissertation.
Isabella Honan was the last remaining member of the wealthy Honan family who operated a successful butter export business in Cork. On her death, in 1913, she left the bulk of her large fortune to various charities and causes in her native city. One bequest provided the funds for building the world renowned Honan Chapel at UCC. Her interest in encouraging access to education led her to endow the “Honan Scholarship”, in the year 1910, which for many decades provided access to education at UCC for students who could not otherwise afford it. The scholarship, unlike others, was not restricted to one denomination and was regarded as the most prestigious undergraduate bursary. Isabella Honan was a retiring and private person and no portrait or picture of her has survived.
Professor Brian Bocking was a key figure in the establishment of the Study of Religions Department at UCC, the first University department in Ireland dedicated to the non-confessional, academic study of religions. Before taking up his Chair in Cork, Professor Bocking taught in the universities of Stirling (Scotland), Tsukuba (Japan), Bath Spa (UK) and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS), where he was Professor of the Study of Religions and Head of Department. He is a distinguished Japanese Religions and Buddhist scholar with many books and publications to his name. He retired from UCC in 2015. An outstanding teacher and communicator, his contribution to the discipline of the study of religions in Ireland has been enormous.
Pictured below with their certificates Alice Stapleton, final year, Rebecca Desbordes, first year and Finn Mac Callum, first year
