Kenneth Nicholls (1934-2025) was Statutory Lecturer in the Department (now School) of History at University College Cork from his appointment in 1974 until his retirement in 2005. Widely regarded as one of the greatest scholars of his generation, as a teacher he ranged broadly through time and space, offering undergraduates a magical carpet-ride of Irish, British, European and even Asian History from the Middle Ages to the Demographic Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Though some students could find the journey challenging, tugging away at old orthodoxies, many found it inspiring and revelatory. No other lecturer demonstrated such a range or depth of knowledge. On his best days his classes could be spellbinding. They were never dull.

The School of History is deeply saddened by the passing of our former colleague, Tom Dunne, after a short illness. Tom was Professor Emeritus of History following upon his retirement from UCC in 2004, after over 27 years of dedication to research and teaching in Cork. This long period does not include some of the very happy years after his retirement when he was teaching the history of Irish Art part-time at UCC, which complemented the curatorial assistance he gave to the Crawford Art Gallery, especially in the organisation of exhibitions and provision of catalogues on Cork artists, James Barry and Daniel Maclise.

Prof Ciara Breathnach recently published an article in the History Workshop Journal.