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"UCC Visitor Services opened its doors on the 10th of August 2005. When I first turned the key of the door I saw an empty room. I don’t think that I could have known that that little room over the years would develop into a central welcoming point for the university.
Tours of the campus had started to become very popular around 2003-2004 and Visitor Services was developed to act as a focal point for these tours.
Our students are the best asset that we as a university have. I am extremely fortunate to have worked with many of these students who have led thousands of tours of the campus over the years.
Most of the students that have worked in Visitor Services have kept in touch and I look forward to their updates about how their lives have been shaped and where their careers have taken them.
Some of their stories have been shared below as they reflect on their time working in UCC."
JP Quinn, Head of Visitor Services
My time spent there was a joy, the people I worked with have become friends and the experiences that I was lucky enough to have, fond memories.
Visitor Services in University College Cork is located in the main Quadrangle and is indeed the heart of the university. My time spent there was a joy, the people I worked with have become friends and the experiences that I was lucky enough to have, fond memories.
David Linnane
It reminded me that UCC teaches you far more outside the classroom than in it. I loved UCC from the day I first saw it, but it wasn’t until joining Visitor Services that I really appreciated it.
Mike Ryan
You can very clearly see them physically relax when they enter the Visitor Services. They know they’re in safe hands. It doesn’t happen by magic. It happens because of the atmosphere and attitude fostered by the staff, and perfectly encapsulated by JP Quinn.
JP Quinn has been Head of Visitor Services since August 2005. A skilled storyteller JP’s focus is on telling the UCC Story and making it as accessible as possible for many different audiences.
JP leads out on the university visitor strategy, develops university merchandise projects and writes books on UCC stories including A Bee at UCC published 2021, the forthcoming A Tree at UCC (April 2023), High Stools and Tall Tales (2024) and the ABC’s of UCC (2024).
JP also presents the Revisit Podcast - the episodic Visitor Services Podcast.
Marcia Lyons, Operations Officer
Marcia Lyons joined Visitor Services in 2021 as the Operations Officer with a focus on managing the tour guides/staff, marketing and merchandising. Marcia joined UCC with over 20 years’ experience in retail, human resources and marketing. Marcia manages our tour booking system for tours and excursions.
Tour Guides
The UCC Tour guides are all UCC Students, generally Post Graduate and PhD candidates who over several years have amassed large knowledge of the university and deliver the tours daily to groups of all types and sizes.
The guides conduct their tours exhibiting their clear love of the university and each guide brings their own individual style and experience to their tour presentations. As a result, no two tours are ever the same.
