Farewell to the TerraceMaking the break from theTerrace: JIM SHERIDAN

To commemorate 124 years ofUCD at Earlsfort Terrace aseries of events have beenorganised between May 17thand 20th.

They include a concert ofMusic and Literature at theNational Concert Hall onThursday. It will includeexcerpts from James Joyce,Flann O’Brien, MaeveBinchy and Kate O’Brien,and feature Joe O’Connor,Tom Kilroy, MarieHeaney and FrankMcGuinness, with a spe-cial performance by JohnO’Conor.

A retired staff celebra-tion takes place at Earls-fort Terrace on Friday.An L&H Challenge takesplace at Earlsfort Terracethe same evening, whencurrent student membersof the Literary and Histor-ical Society challengeformer auditors to adebate.

On Saturday afternoonthere will be afternoontea, music, exhibitions,tours and talks takingplace in Earlsfort Ter-race.

All of these events aresold out or fully sub-scribed.

On Sunday a commemorativeliturgy will be held at Univer-sity Church, at 11 am. All are wel-come.

For general enquiries contactUCD University Relations. (Tel01-7161447)

To coincide with the Farewellto the Terrace series of events,UCD is launching the TerraceGraduates’ Fund to ensure the

legacy of the Terrace is pre-served for successive genera-tions of students.

The purpose of the TerraceGraduates’ Fund is twofold.Firstly, to fund the restorationof the famous and much-lovedKevin Barry memorial window;the cost of preserving this his-torical artefact is estimated at

upwards of ¤250,000.Secondly, to establish hospi-

tality facilities for Terrace grad-uates as part of the newGateway Project on the BelfieldCampus.

It is UCD’s intention to rec-reate the spirit of the Terrace innew surroundings as a tributeto this great era in our history.Hence this is considered to beboth a time of celebration and a

call for support.The Kevin Barry window

was paid for by medical stu-dents, and designed by RichardKing. It commemorates the first-year UCD medical student whowas executed at the age of 18 forhis part in the War of Independ-ence. (see page 4)

Since its unveiling in 1934, thewindow has become oneof Earlsfort Terrace’s best-loved features.

The final move fromEarlsfort Terrace intonew facilities on the Belf-ield Campus completesthe vision that began over70 years ago.

The Terrace Graduates’Fund will give UCD thewherewithall to designand plan the Terrace inher-itance within the newGateway complex, thearchitectural plans forwhich will be announcedin June.

The Gateway willcreate an iconic image of a21st century UCD,blending the aestheticwith the functional tocreate facilities for thefuture generations of stu-dents.

It is considered thatwhat the university hasachieved to date – and what ithopes to accomplish in thefuture – has and will continue torest upon the shoulders of theUCD alumni, benefactors andstaff.

For more information or tomake a gift contact: UCD Foun-dation, Tierney Building, Uni-versity College Dublin, Belfield,Dublin 4. (Tel: 01-7161447)

From daisy chains topubs, some notablealumni have their ownunique memories.Louise Holden writes

A SPECIAL REPORT

Jim Sheridan: ‘I knew there was no point in protesting,the move was inevitable, but I never made my peace withBelfield’

From a city centre campusto playing the world stage

The Earlsfort Terracecampus was alwaysbursting at the seams.Beyond the seams, hap-

pily, was all that Dublin city hadto offer. Famous former studentsof Earlsfort Terrace have vividmemories of this charismatic citycampus with its eclectic mix ofpriests, rebels, budding politi-cians and students from all overthe world.

“The place was crawling withpriests,” journalist Olivia O’Learyrecalls. “I came from a conventschool, where the nuns believedin rights for women, to a univer-sity where I wasn’t allowed towear trousers. One day all thefemale students turned up injeans, in protest at the ban. It waslifted that year – 1968, I believe.”

Clothing marked the memoryof many former Earlsfort Terracestudents. “I’ll never forget theclerical students, all dressed inblack, arriving in pairs on theirbicycles,” says broadcaster andformer history student Brian Far-rell.

“They were not allowed tospeak to the other students. In theTerrace canteen, known as “TheAnnex”, they never had to queuefor their lunch, as it was all laidout for them. I developed a deepanti-clericalism over the matter.”

The Great Hall, centre ofcampus life at the Terrace,formed the backdrop for DrGarret FitzGerald’s richest recol-lections of the period. “It was theplace where all students cametogether to read the notice-boards, collect exam results andto sit on the radiators. We werealways warned that we would getpiles. One fine day in May 1944 Iand my friends weaved a 63-footlong daisy chain and hung itacross the hall. I’m sure we brokea record. The drawing pin thatheld the last daisy remained inthe wall for years afterwards.”

Earlsfort Terrace students hada ready supply of flora. No remi-niscence of the campus is com-plete without stories of languidafternoons under the trees in the

Iveagh Gardens and St Stephen’sGreen. “We sat under the appleblossoms, making daisy chains,gazing at the statues of civil serv-ants and vowing that we wouldnever join them,” Olivia O’Learyrecounts.

Another life-sustaining organof the campus was the science the-atre, which bubbled with chem-istry by day and debate by night.Would-be politicians and lawmakers fought it out there at ses-sions of the L&H debatingsociety.

“There was an electric atmos-phere in the science theatre whenthe L&H used to meet,” says jour-nalist and broadcaster VincentBrowne. “There were great acous-tics and the room was steeped inatmosphere that could not be rep-licated anywhere else. As a resultthe debates were more vibrantand alive than they are today.”

Every former student of Earls-fort has been irrevocably markedby at least one provocative aca-demic. “Denis Donoghue wasabsolutely mesmerising,” saysOlivia O’Leary, who experiencedan epiphany in one of her earlylectures with the Professor of Eng-lish.

“I was only 17, barely out ofschool, a culchie who hadn’t readnearly enough. When DenisDonoghue began to lecture onWordsworth I could actually feelmy mind stretch as he spoke. Hewas arrogant and difficult; heused to say that these sessionswere not so much lectures asopportunities for the students tohear him think out loud.”

Brian Farrell was especiallystruck by the lectures of Pro-fessor Dudley Edwards, pro-fessor of Modern Irish History,an “eccentric character”, andAubrey Gwyn, a Jesuit and Pro-fessor of Medieval History. “Ifthe weather was fine ProfessorGwyn would move the lectures tothe Iveagh Gardens. Once there,he would invariably drawcrowds.”

Farrell also recalls largecrowds gathering for the

addresses of Patrick Kavanagh,enlisted as a guest lecturer bySean Costello and John CharlesMcQuaid as “a bit of kindness”after losing a libel action and aconsiderable amount of money.

Dr Garret FitzGerald was alsostruck by the lecturing talents ofthe Earlsfort Terrace history fac-ulty, especially those of JohnMarcus O’Sullivan.

Vincent Browne, a graduate ofeconomics and politics, cannotforget the inspiring lectures oneconomics by Paddy Lynch – heremembers the metaphysics lec-tures of Desmond Connell for dif-ferent reasons, he says.

THE BANNED TROUSERS, thequeues for registration and thefiles of silent clerical students,keeping the blinkered “custody ofthe eyes”, slipped into the past asEarlfort Terrace modernised,rationalised and finally closed. Asone faculty after another said

goodbye to the terrace, they alsosaid farewell to Hartigan’s,Lamb’s and Kirwan’s pubs, theSinging Kettle on Leeson Street,the Green Cinema, the IveaghGardens and other retreats andwatering-holes.

Feelings about the move were

mixed and to this day, alumni ofthe Terrace cannot agree. “I wasone of the few people in favour ofthe move to Belfield,” says BrianFarrell. “The Terrace was anextraordinary place but we livedin each other’s pockets. Therewas no scope to expand in anydirection.”

Dr Garret FitzGerald feels dif-ferently. “It was a small campusand the students were close. Now-adays you don’t get to minglewith students from lots of dif-ferent disciplines on campus.Anyone that studied in EarlsfortTerrace was very attached to it. Inever wanted to leave.”

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Planning events forthe university’s futureFour days of events will mark the124-year legacy of Earlsfort Terrace

Studies andpolitical activitiesdisrupted – and abike out to BelfieldFilm-maker Jim Sheridanstarted his university career inEarlsfort Terrace, studying Eng-lish, history and philosophyunder memorable lecturerssuch as Jim Mays, Gus Martinand Sister Benvenuta. Hespent his idle hours in theIveagh Gardens or hanging outin the physics theatre, wherehe met Neil Jordan and FrankMacken.

His first brush with artisticsuccess was his college stageproduction – a “psychedelic”version of Oedipus Rex whichwas critically acclaimed andattracted thousands.

“It was 1972 and the produc-tion spoke about the North. Iwas very political in college,and spent a lot of my time atEarlsfort in Gaj’s Restaurant, apolitical hotbed.

“The atmosphere at Earls-fort Terrace was very free, very

collegial, like an old-world col-lege. We were right n the centreof town, drinking in Hartigans,relaxing in the Gardens – it wasgreat.”

Sheridan remembers withsorrow the day when, in themiddle of his undergrad years,his faculty was moved to theBelfield campus. “I had to buy arattly old motorbike – no morewalking to college from myhome in Seville Place. I knewthere was no point in pro-testing, the move was inevi-table, but I never made mypeace with Belfield.”

Sheridan started skippinglectures in Belfield andspending his time in the TrinityCollege library instead, or min-gling with other artists in thearts labs on College Green. Youcan take the student out of theTerrace…

– Louise Holden

Anyone that studied in EarlsfortTerrace was very attached to it.I never wanted to leave

Main picture: broadcaster and journalist Vincent Browne; above left: Garret FitzGerald, former taoiseach and economist, addressingan audience in Earlsfort Terrace in the 1960s and right: broadcaster Olivia O’Leary

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A Supplement to THE IRISH TIMES Tuesday, May 15, 2007