NUI Galway


The National University of Ireland Galway is located in the city of Galway in Ireland. A third-level teaching and research institution, the University has been awarded the full five QS stars for excellence, and is ranked among the top 1 percent of universities according to the 2018 QS World University Rankings.
The University was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College Galway", and was more recently known as "University College Galway" .
NUI Galway is a member of the Coimbra Group, a network of 40 long-established European universities.

History

The University opened for teaching in 1849 as "Queen's College Galway" with 68 students. A year later it became part of the Queen's University of Ireland. The Irish Universities Act, 1908 made this college a constituent college of the new National University of Ireland, and under a new charter the name of the University changed to "University College Galway". It was given special statutory responsibility under the University College Galway Act, 1929 with respect of the use of the Irish language as a working language of the University. It retained the title of University College Galway until the Universities Act, 1997 changed it to the "National University of Ireland, Galway".
Located close to the city centre, it stretches along the River Corrib. The oldest part of the University, the Quadrangle with its Aula Maxima was designed by John Benjamin Keane; it is a replica of Christ Church, one of the colleges at the University of Oxford. The stone from which it is built was supplied locally.
Fine Gael's youth wing took a hold on the university in 1973 during the Liam Cosgrave-led Fine Gael/Labour Coalition government, with Enda Kenny and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn among those behind its establishment there.
More modern parts of the university sprang up in the 1970s and were designed by architects Scott Tallon Walker. The 1990s also saw considerable development, including the conversion of an old munitions factory into a student centre. Under the early 21st-century Presidency of Iognáid G. Ó Muircheartaigh, NUI Galway announced details of plans to make the University a "campus of the future" at a cost of around €400 million. Ó Muircheartaigh's successor James J. Browne continued with that plan.
Nelson Mandela made a memorable appearance at the University in 2003. On what was his last visit to Ireland, Mandela condemned U.S. foreign policy and received an honorary doctorate from then NUI Chancellor Garret FitzGerald.
The University launched its Strategic Plan "Vision 2020" in 2015. 21st-century developments include a state-of-the-art University Sports Centre, Áras Moyola, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, the Alice Perry Engineering Building, the BioSciences Research Building, the Life Course Institute, the Lambe Institute and the O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance. A new Human Biology Building completed in summer 2017.
In March 2020, NUI Galway was awarded €4 million from the EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme to support its Solar2chem project.

Gender discrimination controversy

In 2014 the Equality Tribunal ruled in favor of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, granddaughter of the famous Irish feminist couple Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Francis Sheehy Skeffington, who claimed she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender during 2009. The university "unreservedly" accepted the decision that the "hiring process was flawed". In 2015 with "widespread concern" among staff, mandatory unconscious bias training was introduced for senior staff, including heads of school and interview boards. In 2017 Dr Elizabeth Tilley was deemed to have exceeded qualifications for senior lectureship following a Labour Court hearing and promoted. In 2018 a further four female lecturers who had also applied for promotion in 2009 were promoted having settled their cases "amicably".
In 2017, the gender ratio of senior NUIG lecturers is 60:40 in favor of men. The ratio of professorships, the most senior academic grade, is 87:13 in favor of men. In 2018 the university achieved bronze status in the Athena SWAN recognizes a commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education and research careers.

Colleges

The five Colleges of the University are:
Since January 2006, St. Angela's College, Sligo has been a college of Galway; it was previously a recognised college of the National University of Ireland. As a result, those admitted to St. Angela's College are registered as students at Galway.
Since 2015 the Shannon College of Hotel Management is fully incorporated into the University — becoming part of the College of Business, Public Policy & Law at Galway — formally marked by the then Minister for Education and Skills Jan O'Sullivan at an event held in Shannon College on 9 November 2015. All staff of Shannon College of Hotel Management became staff of Galway and all students of Shannon College of Hotel Management became students at Galway.
There are several Research Institutes and Centres at NUI Galway including:
Constituent schools found in the relevant colleges include:

Foundation

Galway University Foundation was established in 1998 with the intention of generating financial support from private individuals and institutions for NUI Galway. It nurtures relationships with donors for whom NUI Galway's approach to education appeals. The Foundation has many 'Priority Projects' in development.
The National University of Ireland, Galway library is now named the James Hardiman Library.

Student life

Societies

NUI Galway has about 150 active student societies, ranging from the academic to artistic and performing. Religions are represented, as are other lifestyles. In addition, many of Ireland's political parties have active societies at NUI Galway, including Fine Gael, Green, Labour, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats.
The oldest society on the campus is the Literary and Debating Society, founded in 1846.
Another of NUI Galway's oldest societies is Cumann Staire. One of Europe's oldest history societies, it is a member of the Comhaltas na gCumann Staire - Irish History Students' Association and the International Students of History Association.
NUI Galway's Computer Society is the oldest of its kind in the country, formed in 1978 by Kevin Connolly. Today it hosts Galway's student radio FlirtFm, and provides services for Computer Science, Math and Engineering students.
"Dram Soc" played a critical part in the formation of the Druid Theatre Company, Macnas and the Galway Arts Festival.
GUMS, the university musical society, hosts annual musicals in the Dubhlann/Black Box Theatre.
The then Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív and a student became involved in an altercation on the grounds of the University in 2008, making national headlines. The following year, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was forced to flee from a public discussion at the University after being jostled by students opposed to the planned reintroduction of college fees. The Christian and LGBT societies were involved in a showdown over same-sex marriage in 2014. The incident was provoked by Enoch Burke, auditor of the Christian Society, running for the position of Equality Officer in that year's student union election. Earlier, in the late part of 2013, the university suspended the Legion of Mary Society after it failed to satisfactorily explain its connection to posters containing information on a Christian support group for homosexual persons.
An Cumann Gaelach and An Cumann Drámaíochta are the university's main Irish language societies, following the demise of the Cumann Craic. One of the main events of the university's Cumann Gaelach, is the yearly celebration of Seachtain na Gaeilge. The society was awarded the Best New Entry Award at the Glór na nGael awards in 2011.

Clubs

NUI Galway has more than 40 sports clubs based on campus, ranging from indoor sports, to water sports, as well as martial arts, plus equestrian, triathlon, athletics and snow sports.
NUI Galway also competes in the most popular Irish field sports of association football, Gaelic football, hurling and rugby union, as well as cricket, hockey and lacrosse.
NUI Galway GAA compete in the Sigerson Cup and the Fitzgibbon Cup. They are the second most prolific winners of the Sigerson Cup.
NUI Galway RFC compete in the Connacht Senior Cup, and are the competition's most successful side with 34 wins.
NUI Galway F.C. compete in the Galway & District League.
The campus is home to a wide range of sport facilities. Facilities include Dangan Sportsground, where the university's GAA teams compete, and the Kingfisher, where Moycullen Basketball Club play their games.

Connacht Rugby

In 2013, NUI Galway announced it would sponsor Connacht Rugby, the nearby professional Pro12 rugby union team, for the following three years and would put in place a "High Performance Education Partnership" that would give players from the Connacht Rugby Academy and age-grade teams the chance to educated there. At the time of the announcement 17 members of Connacht's squad were either attending the university as students or were graduates.
Within a few years of the start of NUI Galway's sponsorship of the Connacht Rugby Academy, the team had won, what was then the 2015–16 Pro12 title, for the first time by defeating Leinster in the 2016 Pro12 Grand Final. Seven players from the Connacht Rugby Academy played 55 times for their team during that campaign, with others in that squad also graduates of the Connacht Rugby Academy.
The deal was renewed in 2017, covering the period until 2019.

Students' Union

The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the university and college authorities.
In February 2009, the University announced the Students' Union-run RAG week would "no longer form part of the university calendar". The President of the Students' Union expressed the belief that the decision was unjustified, citing the more than €20,000 raised for charities that year.

International

International students make up over 12 percent of the student population at NUI Galway.

People

Alumni

Presidents

Name of PresidentYears
Rev. Dr Joseph W. Kirwan1845 - 1849
Edward Berwick1849 - 1877
Sir Thomas William Moffett1877 - 1897
W. J. M. Starkie1897 - 1899
Dr Alexander Anderson1899 - 1934
Monsignor John Hynes1934 - 1945
Monsignor Pádraig de Brún1945 - 1959
Dr Martin J. Newell1960 - 1975
Dr Colm Ó hEocha1975 - 1996
Dr Patrick F. Fottrell1996 - 2000
Dr Iognáid G. Ó Muircheartaigh2000 - 2008
Dr James J. Browne2008 - 2018
Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh2018–present

Notable faculty

The University is the setting for, and is referred to in, numerous works of fiction.
Breandán Ó hEithir's novel Lig Sinn i gCathú, set in a thinly disguised Galway and telling the story of student life over four days in April 1949, has featured on the secondary school Leaving Certificate syllabus.
Tom Curtin's novel Melting Pot: An Irish Odyssey tells the story of three lads from University College Galway who leave Ireland for New York in 1969.
NUIG has also faced the legal consequences of gender inequality after a number of female lecturers starting proceedings against the university as gender as a grounds of discrimination is prohibited by Irish law.

Rankings and reputation

Galway has been awarded the full five QS stars for excellence, and is ranked among the top 1 per cent of universities according to the 2018 QS World University Rankings. These rankings marked the sixth consecutive year that the University's ranking improved by these standards.
In recent years Galway has ranked ahead of University College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, placing it second among Irish universities — behind only Trinity College Dublin. Likewise, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Galway ranks ahead of UCD and behind only TCD.
The Sunday Times University Guide has named Galway as its University of the Year on three occasions. Galway won the Times's inaugural title in 2002–2003. A second title followed in 2009–2010. Galway won its third title in 2018.