The Ulster University Derry~Londonderry campus, better known as Magee College, is one of the four campuses of Ulster University. It is located in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, and was opened in 1865 as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Christian arts and

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

. Since 1953, it has had no religious affiliation and provides a broad range of

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

programmes in disciplines ranging from business, law, social work, creative arts & technologies, cinematic arts,

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and

computer games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

Academics

It offers a large number of

and

programmes through Ulster University's four faculties:UU Faculties . Retrieved on 2 July 2009. #Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences #Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment #Life and Health Sciences #Ulster Business School Within each faculty there are a number of schools offering programmes for their relative disciplines. The schools based on the Derry~Londonderry campus are: #Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – School of Arts and Humanities, School of Education, School of Law, School of Applied Social and Policy Studies #Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment – School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems #Life and Health Sciences – School of Nursing, School of Psychology #Ulster Business School – Department of Global Business and Enterprise Programmes taught include

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

, drama, law, social work, education, cinematic arts,

, creative technologies,

robotic Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, music,

, stratified medicine, history, politics,

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and medicine.

Research

Research activities include several research institutes and centres. Derry~Londonderry Campus is a hub for research in the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences especially in Irish, Social Work, Creative Arts and Technologies, Irish Language & Literature and history. It is also the location for the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) dedicated to the creation of intelligent computational systems through research in

neural networks A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either Cell (biology), biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a netwo ...

, fuzzy systems,

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and cognitive robotics. Other research areas include

ambient intelligence Ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to environments with electronic devices that are aware of and can recognize the presence of human beings and adapt accordingly. This concept encompasses various technologies in consumer electronics, telecommunic ...

, wireless sensor networks, robot vision, brain computer interfacing and

serious games A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, he ...

.ISRC Websit
The Intelligent Systems Research Centre ''About''
. Retrieved on 2 July 2009. The university also houses International Conflict Research (INCORE), a joint venture between the United Nations University and Ulster University. Established in 1993, it aims to address issues of the conflict in Northern Ireland and seek to promote conflict resolution internationally.INCORE Websit
INCORE: About
Retrieved on 21 November 2006. The Transitional Justice Institute is based at both the Magee and Belfast campuses. Professor Élise Féron was appointed as INCORE Director in 2025.

Provost

The principal academic post at the campus is the provost. Professor Thomas G Fraser was provost from 2002 to 2006, succeeded by Professor Jim Allen. In 2011, Professor Deirdre Heenan was appointed to the post in 2011, following the retirement of Professor Allen. She was replaced by Professor Malachy O'Neil in 2016. In 2023, the University consolidated the role of Provost for the entire institution. This role is now held by Professor Cathy Gormley Heenan.

History

The initial name for the Campus (Magee Campus) originated from Martha Magee, the widow of a Presbyterian minister, who, in 1845, bequeathed £20,000 to the Presbyterian Church of Ireland to found a college for theology and the arts. ''History of Magee College'' a
UU Library website
. Retrieved on 28 August 2006. Union Theological College website

Retrieved on 31 December 2016. Epitaph, 1845. Martha Magee's memorial at a cemetery in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

reads, ''"The Rev Wm. Magee Minister of the Presbyterian Church Lurgan, died 9 June 1800. At the demise of Mrs Martha Magee, about £60,000 to the Irish Presbyterian Church including £20,000 for the establishment of a college."
History from Headstones
retrieved on 31 August 2006. It opened in 1865 primarily as a

, but accepted students from all denominations to study a variety of subjects. It was a college of the Royal University of Ireland from 1880 and later became associated with the

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

when the Royal University was dissolved in 1909 and replaced by the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

. The Irish Roman Catholic bishops had in 1871 implemented a general ban on Catholics entering Trinity College, with few exceptions. This ban remained in place until it was rescinded by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland in 1970. By that time, Magee College had severed its links with TCD, as set out below.

Second World War: Royal Navy

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the college was taken over by The Admiralty for

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

operational use, becoming with Ebrington Barracks (), a major facility in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. A 2013 BBC report describes a secret major control bunker, later buried beneath the lawns of the college. From 1941 this bunker, part of Base One Europe, together with similar bunkers in Derby House, Liverpool, and

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

was used to control one million Allied personnel and fight the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

threat. On 14 September 2013 Magee hosted the 23rd International Loebner Prize Contest in Artificial Intelligence based on The Turing Test. Julian Peck's (who resided at Prehen House in

) mother, Lady Winifred Peck (née Knox), was a sister of

Dilly Knox Alfred Dillwyn "Dilly" Knox, CMG (23 July 1884 – 27 February 1943) was an English classics scholar and papyrologist at King's College, Cambridge and a codebreaker. As a member of the Room 40 codebreaking unit he helped decrypt the Zimme ...

who directed the code breaking at Bletchley Park. Sir Harry Hinsley OBE was Director of Studies at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

to Professor Robert Gavin, a former Provost of Magee. Dame Alice Rosemary Murray, the first female Vice-Chancellor of

, who also sat on the Lockwood Committee (1963–65) which recommended the closure of Magee as well as the location of Northern Ireland's 2nd University being Coleraine (February 1965), from which she was later awarded a Doctor of Science (DSc) Honorary Degree (1972), was stationed at Base One Europe as WRNS Chief Officer and responsible for the welfare of 5,600 Wrens stationed at Londonderry.

Postwar

In 1953, Magee Theological College separated from the remainder of the college, eventually moving to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in a 1978 merger that formed

Union Theological College Union Theological College is the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Council for Training in Ministry. It has been responsible for training people for m ...

. Presbyterian Church in Ireland Press Release, 200
''Presbyterian College Celebrates 150 Years''
. Retrieved on 28 August 2006. Also in 1953, Magee College broke its links with Dublin and became ''Magee University College''. It was hoped by groups led by the University for Derry Committee that this

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

would become Northern Ireland's second university after

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. However, in the 1960s, following the recommendations in the Lockwood Report by Sir John Lockwood, Master of Birkbeck College, London, and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, the Stormont Parliament made a controversial decision to pass it over in favour of a new university in Coleraine. Instead it was incorporated into the two-campus

New University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially a ...

in 1969. The next fourteen years saw the college halve in size, while development focused on the main Coleraine campus. In 1984, the New University merged with the Ulster Polytechnic, and Magee became the early focus of development of a new four-campus university, the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. Student and faculty numbers recovered and grew rapidly over the next ten to fifteen years, accompanied by numerous construction projects. Magee grew from just 273 students in 1984 to over 4000 undergraduates in 2012. In 2012, the University continued to lobby the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

for an additional 1000 full-time undergraduate places, leading to 6000 students at Magee in 2017.6000 students includes 4000 in 2012, 1000 additional without government permission, and 1000 lobbied for from the Northern Ireland Executive. In October 2014 the University of Ulster was rebranded as Ulster University. Magee University Derry SMC 2005

Timeline

*1845 – Foundation endowment from Martha Magee. *1865 – Magee College opened. *1880 – Magee College joined the new Royal University of Ireland. *1909 – Royal University dissolved. Government funding greatly reduced. Magee College became an autonomous university college, with students completing their degrees at Trinity College, Dublin. *1953 – Magee University College received major government grant funding for the first time. *1969 – Magee University College merged with the

. *1978 – Magee Theological College closed, merging with Assembly's College to form Union Theological College in Belfast. *1984 – New University merged with the Ulster Polytechnic, Jordanstown, to form the University of Ulster. *2014 – Rebranded name to Ulster University. *2021 - Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) opens. *2023 - Rebranded to Ulster University Derry~Londonderry Campus

Historical notes

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

visited Magee College on 31 May 1867. * The Magee College bequest is mentioned on the founder's graveyard memorial in

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, where her husband was a minister.

Campus

The central feature of the campus is the original 1865 building. This is surrounded by Victorian red brick houses, and several modern buildings in red brick and glass, constructed since the formation of the University of Ulster. The campus is used for education, but also as a convention centre. For example, Magee hosted the 2006 Tomo-Dachi convention. ;Timeline of recent construction *1988 – Phase I building *1989 – Carrickmore House, extension of main building *1990 – Phase II library building *1991 – Refurbished main building *1992 – Extension of 3/4 College Avenue *1993 – Strand Road student residence *1995 – Phase III buildings (sports complex and informatics), Duncreggan Road student residences, floodlit all-weather sports ground *2018 - New Teaching Block opened adjacent to the library *2023 - Plans announced for the new Shared Island teaching block to break ground in 2026 and to be completed in 2028.

Tip O'Neill Chair

Based at Magee, the Tip O'Neill Chair in Peace Studies was established in commemoration of the former

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

Thomas "Tip" O'Neill Jr. a well-known supporter of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. The chair was inaugurated by the former President of the United States,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1995. Currently funded by The Ireland Funds the chair was held by the Nobel Peace Laureate,

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...

from 2002 to 2009. Under the tenure of Professor Hume Magee hosted a series of guest lectures involving key national and international policy-makers. The Tio O'Neill Chair is currently held by Professor Brandon Hamber. * Mitchell Reiss, United States Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, 2006 *John Kerry, United States Senator, 2006 *Garret Fitzgerald, former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, 2005 *Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Senator, 2004 *Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, 2004 *Romano Prodi, EU Commission President, 2004 *Pat Cox, MEP and President of the European Parliament, 2004 *Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland and President of the European Council, 2003 *Bill Clinton, former President of the United States, 2003 *Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France, 2003

Notable alumni

Year of

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

is given, if known. * Gregory Campbell, 1982 *

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

, Deputy First Minister of the

, c.1980s *Dill Macky, founder of

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

school in Sydney, 1866 * Brooke Scullion, Irish entry to the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, 2020.

Honorary graduates

Notable figures have received honorary degrees in graduations hosted by Magee. *Rt Hon Lord Ashdown ( Paddy Ashdown), former Liberal Democrat Leader and former UN High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2006 * Amanda Burton, actor, 2002 *

, then President of the United States, 1995 *

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, United States Senator, 2004 *

Enya Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (born 17 May 1961; anglicised as Enya Patricia Brennan) known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish singer and composer. With an estimated equivalent of over 80 million albums sold worldwide, Enya is the best-selli ...

, Irish singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter, 2007 * Gary Lightbody, Musician, 2012 * Stephen Rea, actor, 2004 * Fiona Shaw, actor, 2004 * Sir Ian McKellen, actor, 2013BBC News, 2013

3 February 2013. Retrieved on 19 July 2020.

Gallery

File:Magee College at Night.jpg, Magee at Night File:Library Building at Magee.jpg, Library Building File:Magee Main Building.jpg, Main Building

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ulster University, Magee Presbyterian universities and colleges Presbyterian Church in Ireland Former theological colleges in Northern Ireland Grade A listed buildings 1865 establishments in Ireland Listed educational buildings in the United Kingdom Listed buildings in Northern Ireland Battle of the Atlantic Royal Navy bases in Northern Ireland Universities and colleges established in 1865