Séamus Ó Cathail, Rúnaí Acadúil / Academic Secretary
Item
Format
Jpg
Title
Séamus Ó Cathail, Rúnaí Acadúil / Academic Secretary
Identifier
VHS0001
Depiction
A man in academic dress, writing at a desk, with a calendar on the wall behind him
Description
Séamus Ó Cathail (1925-91), Rúnaí Acadúil (Academic Secretary) of UCG (1969-91), in his MA academic robe and wearing the maroon UCG tie with the College Crest, writing at his desk in his office (Room A131 in the Quadrangle, previously the Staff Room). He was the first professional academic administrator in the Irish University system, assuming the student registration, academic administration and other related responsibilities theretofore assigned to the Registrar, together with the examination responsibilities held by the NUI-appointed Supervisor of Examinations (though that office continued to be held till a vacancy therein in 1973). He was also Secretary to the Academic Council. As the Charter of the College required that there be a Registrar, new responsibilities relating mainly to new academic staff, academic staffing and resources, and student welfare were assigned by Statute to the Registrar (a Professor elected for a three-year term, subject to a maximum of two terms), who also ranked second only to the President.
Séamus Ó Cathail had previously been Secretary to the Commission on the Accommodation Needs of the NUI Constituent Universities (1958-59) and then Secretary to the Commission on Higher Education (1960-67), chaired by Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and which set the strategic and structural parameters on the policy for development of the Irish Higher Education sector for decades ahead. He was Cathaoirleach of the Central Applications Office (1978-91) and for several years was the representative of the Irish Universities on the Liaison Committee of the Rectors' Conferences of EC Universities.
Séamus Ó Cathail had previously been Secretary to the Commission on the Accommodation Needs of the NUI Constituent Universities (1958-59) and then Secretary to the Commission on Higher Education (1960-67), chaired by Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh and which set the strategic and structural parameters on the policy for development of the Irish Higher Education sector for decades ahead. He was Cathaoirleach of the Central Applications Office (1978-91) and for several years was the representative of the Irish Universities on the Liaison Committee of the Rectors' Conferences of EC Universities.
People
Séamus Ó Cathail
Contributor
Bibliographic Citation
S. Mac Mathúna, 'Séamus Ó Cathail, Rúnaí Acadúil / Academic Secretary', Visual History Retired Staff Collection, University of Galway Digital Collections, Asset Id 14387, Archival Record Id VHRS
Spatial Coverage
Temporal Coverage
Period
1980s
Category
Colour
Portrait
On-campus
Indoors
Portrait
On-campus
Indoors
Language
English
Irish
Irish
Creator
Yann Studios, Galway
Publisher
University of Galway Library
Rights
This image may be used for non-commercial purposes under CC BY-NC-SA see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Provenance
Image retrieved from the Secretary's Office archives by Séamus Mac Mathúna and scanned by him for the Visual History Retired Staff Collection in 2023