O'Connell Collection: Home

The collection reflects the personal interests of Charles S O'Connell.

The collection prefix before the call number is: O'Connell.

Mr Charles S. O'Connell (1908-?). He attended the Christian Brothers College in Cork, where he was awarded Intermediate Exhibitions. In 1925 he attended UCC under a Cork Corporation scholarship. In 1928 he obtained his B.Comm. Degree with Honours in June 1928 and, by special permission he sat for the BA degree in September which he passed with First Class Hounours. He was awarded a Peel Memorial Prize for "the most distinguished student of the year". In 1929 he completed a Higher Diploma in Education and later that summer he attended an advanced course of the Geneva School of International Studies. During the 1930s he held various teaching posts. In 1938 O'Connell was awarded the Diploma of Geography of the University of London and in 1942 he was awarded a MA degree with First Class Honours in Geology and Geography. Since the 1940s he was employed by UCC first as Assistant to Professor Swain and then, after the latter's retirement in 1944, both Acting Lecturer in Geography and Geology and Head of the Department, then later Lecturer in 1946. In 1959 UCC split Geography and Geology into two separate departments and O'Connell was appointment Chair of Geography and the first professor of Geography in Ireland. Under his guidance students from UCC were the first to be award postgraduate scholarship established by An Foras Forbartha. He was a member of the Governing Body, he was president of the Geographical Society from 1970-1971 and and Dean of Arts Faculty from 1972-1975. O’Connell retired from UCC in 1977.