100 years ago, as the steps towards independence gathered momentum, many staff, students and graduates of University College Dublin played a pivotal role in the discourse and actions that took place.
Today, University College Dublin continues to value the ethos of justice and equality, alongside a sense of cultural identity that shapes our thinking and prompts our debate. Linking in with national and international commemoration initiatives, UCD has devised a programme of scholarship and outreach for the Decade of Centenaries.
The UCD Decade of Centenaries website provides information on UCD conferences, exhibitions, publications and other outputs relating to the decade of centenaries. It provides scholarly resources such as an interactive timeline of the events of 100 years ago, as well as links to much of the commemorative content already produced by the university. University College Dublin will also seek to reflect on the centenaries through creative and cultural works.
The period from 1912 to 1923 was a pivotal one in Irish history. It witnessed political transformation and political violence of magnitudes unknown for generations.
From the introduction of the third Home Rule bill in 1912 to the conclusion of the Irish Civil War in 1923, the island of Ireland witnessed insurrection, insurgency, and conflict. These years also saw the foundation of new parliaments north and south, the extension of franchise and suffrage, and the introduction of partition. Far from being uniquely Irish, these processes became increasingly common worldwide as the 20th century progressed.
Internationally, the decade encompassed the First World War, along with other major geopolitical developments and social and cultural transformations. One of the defining cultural figures of the period, and indeed of the 20th century, was UCD graduate James Joyce. 1916 witnessed the publication of James Joyce’s iconic bildungsroman, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The first edition of Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses was published in 1922.
University College Dublin has a particularly important role to play in activities around this Decade of Centenaries. Many UCD staff, students and graduates were involved in critical events between 1912 and 1923. UCD came of age during the revolutionary decade. Following independence, the university and its graduates played an integral role in the foundation and the development of the modern Irish state.
To mark the centenary, the college is proposing two significant arts initiatives including a major art installation in stained glass. The chosen piece will be a physical legacy of the Decade of Commemorations, dedicated to contextualising the past in the context of the present. In addition, a theatre production called Signatories will be staged.
Faoi mar a bhí an sprioc i dtreo an neamhspleáchais ag bailiú nirt 100 bliain ó shin, ghlac mórán comhaltaí foirne, mic léinn agus céimithe ón gColáiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath páirt lárnach sa dioscúrsa agus sna gníomhartha a bhí ar bun.
Tá meas fós ag an gColáiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath sa lá atá inniu ar éiteas an cheartais agus an chomhionannais, mar aon le féiniúlacht chultúrtha a théann i bhfeidhm ar ár smaointeoireacht agus a spreagann ár ndíospóireacht. Cheap UCD clár scoláireachta agus for-rochtana le haghaidh Dheich mBliana na gCuimhneachán a thagann leis na tionscnaimh náisiúnta agus idirnáisiúnta chomórtha.
Tá eolas ar shuíomh gréasáin UCD le haghaidh Dheich mBliana na gCuimhneachán faoi chomhdhálacha, faoi thaispeántais, faoi fhoilseacháin agus faoi aschuir eile ó UCD a bhaineann le Deich mBliana na gCuimhneachán. Tá acmhainní scolártha air ar nós amlíne idirghníomhach de na himeachtaí a tharla 100 bliain ó shin, chomh maith le naisc chuig cuid mhór den ábhar comórtha a tháirg an ollscoil cheana féin. Lena chois sin, féachfaidh an Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath le machnamh a dhéanamh ar na cuimhneacháin trí shaothair chruthaitheacha agus chultúrtha.
Bhí na blianta idir 1912 agus 1923 ríthábhachtach i stair na hÉireann. Tháinig athrú ó bhonn ar chúrsaí polaitíochta agus bhí foréigean polaitíochta ann nach bhfacthas leis na glúine.
Ó thabhairt isteach an tríú Bille Rialtais Dúchais i 1912 go dtí deireadh Chogadh Cathartha na hÉireann i 1923, bhí éirí amach, ceannairc, agus coimhlint ar oileán na hÉireann. Chonacthas parlaimintí nua ó thuaidh agus ó dheas, méadú ar an gceart vótála, agus tabhairt isteach na críochdheighilte sna blianta sin freisin. Níor phróisis Éireannacha iad sin amháin cionn is go raibh siad ag éirí níos coitianta ar fud an domhain de réir mar a chuaigh an 20ú haois ar aghaidh.
Thit an Chéad Chogadh Domhanda amach sna deich mbliana sin, mar aon le mórfhorbairtí geopholaitíochta agus mórathruithe sóisialta agus cultúrtha eile. Bhí céimí UCD, James Joyce, ar cheann de na pearsana suntasacha cultúrtha sa tréimhse sin, agus go deimhin sa 20ú haois trí chéile. Cuireadh saothar íocónach bildungsroman James Joyce, ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’, i gcló sa bhliain 1916. Foilsíodh an chéad eagrán de shárshaothar Joyce, ‘Ulysses’, i 1922.
Tá ról tábhachtach ar leith ag an gColáiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath sna gníomhaíochtaí i nDeich mBliana na gCuimhneachán seo. Bhí baint ag anrud comhaltaí foirne, mic léinn agus céimithe ó UCD in imeachtaí ríthábhachtacha idir 1912 agus 1923. Tháinig UCD in inmhe le linn na ndeich mbliana réabhlóideacha. Tar éis an neamhspleáchas a bhaint amach, ghlac an ollscoil agus a céimithe páirt lárnach i mbunú agus i bhforbairt stát nua na hÉireann.
D’fhonn an comóradh céad bliain a cheiliúradh, tá dá thionscnamh shuntasacha ealaíon á mbeartú ag an gcoláiste lena n-áirítear mórthaispeántán ealaíne i ngloine dhaite. Oidhreacht fhisiciúil Dheich mBliana na gCuimhneachán a bheidh sa saothar a roghnófar, ina gcuirfear an t-am atá caite i gcomhthéacs an ama i láthair. Ina theannta sin, cuirfear léiriú téatair ar a dtugtar ‘Signatories’ ar an stáitse.