The Literary and Historical Society (L&H) is the oldest society in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(UCD), which according to its constitution is the 'College Debating Union'. Founded in 1855 by Cardinal

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and ...

, it is one of the most well-known student societies in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The society has over 5000 enrolled members as of 2017, and has been the largest student society in UCD, Ireland and Europe.

Activities

House debates

L&H House debates are central to UCD life. The Society gathers once a week to debate a topic of the day. This is the main activity of the society, and typically takes place on Wednesday evenings in the custom-built

Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, and ...

Debating Chamber, in the UCD Student Centre; in a venue that is usually full to capacity. Personalities central to the topic being discussed are invited to enlighten the house with knowledge and arguments specific to the motion, as well as student members of the society.

Guest speakers and L&H accolades

The L&H also regularly invites speakers outside of debates. These speakers have included actor

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

, economist

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was t ...

, linguist

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

, Irish politician

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Ire ...

, LGBTQ+ activist Rory O'Neil aka

Panti Bliss Rory O'Neill (born 16 November 1968), also known by his stage names Panti, Panti Bliss and Pandora Panti Bliss, is a drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate ...

, photographer and blogger

Brandon Stanton Brandon Stanton (born March 1, 1984) is an American author, photographer, and blogger. He is the author of '' Humans of New York,'' a photoblog and book. He was named to ''Time'' magazine's "30 Under 30 People Changing The World" list. Since ...

of '' Humans of New York'', writer

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

, economist John Nash and British Writer

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...

. The Society awards Honorary Fellowships and

James Joyce Award The James Joyce Award, also known as the Honorary Fellowship of the Society, is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) of University College Dublin (UCD) for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field; r ...

s to individuals who have "contributed significantly to a field of human endeavour". Recipients of either of the two awards include

F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South ...

, Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...

and

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the princip ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, actor

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

, actor

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

author

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector

Hans Blix Hans Martin Blix (; born 28 June 1928) is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. As suc ...

, celebrated novelist

, former England soccer captain

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...

member

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

actor

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

, writer

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

. and Irish author Liz Nugent. Since the foundation of the Irish state, every

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

has addressed the Society.

UCD Vice Presidents' Cup IV

The Vice Presidents' Cup is one of the longest running intervarsity competitions on the Irish debating circuit. It draws teams from across the UK and Ireland as well as European and American teams. Occurring in the last week of October each year, its place on the calendar makes it the opening event of the Worlds preparation season.

UCD Earlsfort Open

The Earlsfort Open is a summer debating competition held in July. Founded in 2011, it serves as a preparation competition for the

European Universities Debating Championship __NOTOC__ The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) is an annual debating tournament for teams from universities in Europe. The competition uses the British Parliamentary Debate format (the same debate format used at the World U ...

, held annually in August.

L&H Strauss Ball

Each year, the Society hosts UCD's only

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a wh ...

ball, the Strauss Ball. After

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es with each person on the card, the orchestra moves aside for the DJ. The Society also hosts various nightclub events throughout the year. The event is run and organised by the social secretaries and strauss ball convenors.

Competitive debating

The L&H enjoys success as one of the stronger Irish debating institutions. The Society has won a number of international debating competitions and has enjoyed dominance in The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

and Mace debating competitions as well as international and national intervarsities. The Society has attended the World Universities Debating Championship, and progressed further and has sent teams as far afield as

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. In 1987 & 2006, UCD hosted the World Universities Debating Championship. The Society also promotes and organises competitive debating in schools across Ireland through the Schools' Mace, the Leinster Schools Debating Competition (co-organised by Trinity's

College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...

) and the UCD Junior Schools Debating Competition, which reach secondary schools throughout the country.

History

Foundation

The L&H was founded in 1855, a year after the foundation of the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ga, Ollscoil Chaitliceach na hÉireann) was a private Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University o ...

, the precursor to UCD. Both the university and the debating society were founded by Father

(future Cardinal Newman). One of the Society's most famous members from this era was

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

, who presented his paper "Drama and Life" before a crowd of assembled members in 1900. Conor Cruise O'Brien served as Vice President of the Society during his time in UCD. Most of the College's societies, including the UCD Student Union itself can trace their roots to the L&H.

Earlsfort years

Before the university moved to Belfield, the debates were held on Saturday nights in the

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Theatre, in Earlsfort Terrace. Here, the popularity and renown of the L&H flourished and the Society first became known on a national scale. Quite often, events occurring at the Society's debates made front page news in the national press. At various occasions, college authorities and external bodies attempted to shut the Society down, including in 1961, when the L&H was suspended by UCD authorities. No such attempts have been successful.

On the Belfield campus

In 1972, the Society again relocated, this time to UCD's Belfield campus, where the majority of students now studied. Since this time the Society has grown in size and popularity due to the novice but dangerous initiation tasks that committee members carry out. Notably, in 1957 an unnamed committee member came close to being expelled after an event that the college refuses to disclose.

Centennial and sesquicentennial histories

A 150th Anniversary book, edited by Frank Callanan SC, has been published to update James Meenan’s centenary history of the society, published in 1955. The book, together with the reprinted centenary history, details the complete story of Ireland's most famous debating society and comprises a range of articles by various personalities from the L&H's past on the last 50 years of the Society, including

Maeve Binchy Anne Maeve Binchy Snell (28 May 1939Born 1939 as per biography, ''Maeve Binchy'' by Piers Dudgeon, Thomas Dunne Books 2013; (hardcover), pp. 4, 280, 302; (ebook) – 30 July 2012) was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, colum ...

Owen Dudley Edwards Owen Dudley Edwards (born 27 March 1938) is an Irish historian and former Reader in Commonwealth and American History at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the son of Professor Robert Dudley Edwards and brother to the Irish writer, ...

Vincent Browne Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a nightly talk-show ...

Kevin Myers Kevin Myers (born 30 March 1947) is an English-born Irish journalist and writer. He has contributed to the ''Irish Independent'', the Irish edition of ''The Sunday Times'', and ''The Irish Times''s column "An Irishman's Diary". Myers is kn ...

Adrian Hardiman Adrian Hardiman (21 May 1951 – 7 March 2016) was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2016. Early life and education Adrian Hardiman was born on 21 May 1951, in Coolock, Dublin. His father was a teacher and Pre ...

and Michael McDowell .

Organisation

Auditor and committee

The L&H is run by a committee each with specific responsibilities. The committee is chosen by the Auditor, who is elected on a yearly basis by the enrolled membership of the Society. The Auditor is the head of the committee and responsible for the general running of the Society. Each Session begins in or around the beginning of the month of March, on the date of the AGM. The new Auditor for the coming year is appointed at this meeting, either as the result of an election from the enrolled membership or, in cases where a single candidate is unopposed, by nomination. Notable former auditors of the Society include former

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

and Chief Justice

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the fifth president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English ...

, Professor Anthony Clare, comedians

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...

and

Jarlath Regan Jarlath Regan (born 1980) is a London-based Irish comedian and podcaster. A former graphic design consultant, he began his stand-up comedy career in 2003 and by the end of 2004 was a finalist for three major UK comedy newcomer awards: So You Th ...

, notable suffragist and writer

Francis Sheehy-Skeffington Francis Joseph Christopher Skeffington (later Sheehy Skeffington; 23 December 1878 – 26 April 1916) was an Irish writer and radical activist, known also by the nickname "Skeffy".Dara Redmond"Officer who exposed pacifist's murder", ''The Irish ...

and Irish Supreme Court judge

. Notably,

ran for election to the post of auditor twice, and was defeated on both occasions. The 153rd session of the Society recorded record membership for any University society in Europe. The membership exceeded 5,000 members, surpassing by several hundred the previous record, also set by the L&H in its 150th session. The 159th session of the society yet again broke this record, making it the university's largest ever society.

President and vice presidents

These roles are largely ceremonial. The President of the L&H is always the President of the university. There are a number of vice-presidents, mostly made up of former members.

Funding

The Society has received an increased amount of funding in recent years, due to corporate sponsorship and college contributions. The Society receives far less funding from College authorities than its yearly calendar of events demands, and as such seeks corporate sponsorship to cover the costs of each Session. The current title sponsor of the Society is Arthur Cox solicitors, and the Society has in recent years received associate sponsorship from

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

and

Phantom FM TXFM (formerly Phantom 105.2) was a Dublin based radio station, founded in 1997 as a pirate radio station. TXFM broadcast under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). The station ceased broadcasting on 26 October 2016 ...

References

External links

Literary and Historical Society Website

UCD Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Literary And Historical Society (University College Dublin) University College Dublin Student debating societies in Ireland Student organizations established in 1855 1855 establishments in Ireland