The Oxford University Irish Society.

To my fellow students,

Welcome to Michaelmas Term 2022 at the Irish Society!

The Irish Society has a long-established vibrant connection to Oxford University. As President, I endeavour to build on the strong connections of the past, and continue in celebrating the contribution of Ireland to Oxford and the world at large through speaker events, highlighting Ireland’s impact on international business, politics, technology and the arts.

Renowned for its history in Education – Ireland is known as ‘The Land of Saints and Scholars’. The history behind the phrase begins with the Roman Empire’s collapse in the 5th century, Europe was in a state of serious intellectual and social decay as its institutions crumbled. Insulated on the western shores of Europe, Ireland’s institutions could continue to prosper and evolve without interruption leading to a period of intellectual, religious, and artistic superiority that has been called ‘Ireland’s Golden Age’. It is during this period that Ireland earned the title ‘Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum – The Island of Saints and Scholars’. Embracing this accolade, our literary prowess and commitment to innovation since then has been nothing short of admirable.

Joyce, Beckett, Heaney, Binchy, Yeats, Kavanagh, C. S Lewis, Shaw, Wilde – for a small island, Ireland’s contribution to world literature is outstanding. Our novelists, poets and playwrights are honoured as genre-defining pioneers, four of whom are Nobel prize winners.

Ireland’s commitment to innovation is second to none. Henry Ford, son of an Irish immigrant invented the low-price automobile. John Philip Holland invented the submarine. Walter Gordon Wilson invented the modern tank. In 1894, John Joly invented the colour photograph. The modern-day Nickel Zinc battery used to power cell phones was developed by Dr. James J. Drumm. Cambridge University student and Irish-man Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton was the first person to artificially split the atom.