User:Johndevlin14/sandbox

An Cumann Staire(formerly the History Society) is a student history society in the National University of Ireland, Galway. It is one of over a hundred active societies at the Galway campus. It won the 'Best Cultural Contribution Award' in 2016 and 'Best Event' in 2014 at the NUI Galway Society awards. The society is one of the oldest and most prestigious history societies in Europe having been founded in 1951. A number of activities are ran by the society both social and academic, namely, lectures given by guest speakers, table quizzes, social nights out, film showings, trips abroad and conference organisation and attendance. The annual Arts Ball is also ran by the society. It has always been primarily an academic society, though increasingly in recent years it has reached out to those with an interest in history but do not study it.

=Affilliations & Links=

Irish History Students' Association
The I.H.S.A. or the Irish University History Students' Association as it was then known was founded in Dublin in 1950. This was in the main because of the endeavours of Robert Dudley Edwards. He was chair of modern Irish history for University College Dublin, which he held until his retirement. Dudley Edwards was the main protagonist of the association for the subsequent decades. The I.U.H.S.A.'s main function and continues to be was to organise an annual congress where papers were given by students and a ball would be held on the last night of the weekend. It is held in a different town or city every year and was initially organised by the student societies, though this trend only really continues through An Cumann Staire.

The I.H.S.A. has always been an important pillar of An Cumann Staire. In the early years, the congress brought students together from the different traditions and classed from all over the island of Ireland. In most cases the predominantly protestant students from Queens University Belfast had not been south of the border prior to attending the congress. The society has organised the congress on numerous occasions he society hosted the IHSA annual conference in 2012 and 2016 in recent years. Also Galway hosted it in 2004, the first time it had done so since 1993. It was hosted and organised by the society for the first time in 1954 aswell as 1959, 1964, 1969, 1977, 1978 1984 and 1989. Up until relatively recent years the congress had taken place off campus in hotels such as the Meyrick Hotel(Formerly the great Southern Hotel) and even Westport(1978) and Sligo on occasion.

International Students' of History Association
The International Students of History Association (I.S.H.A.) was founded in Budapest in 1990 after the drawing of the iron curtain. This was down to the initiative of Hungarian history students who wanted to forge links with their colleagues in Western Europe. It was and still is primarily based in the former U.S.S.R.. It currently has over 25 sections all over Europe from Saint Petersburg to Galway. It organises several conferences and seminars each year which are conducted through English and are hosted by different sections.

2007 saw An Cumann Staire organise itself as an I.S.H.A. section opening up new horizons for the society and becoming the first Irish section of the association. It remains and has been the only Irish section of the society. Delegations from the Cumann Staire have attended the conferences and seminars all over europe, including: Turku, Pula, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Zagreb.

Fachschaft Geschichte
Fachschaft Geschichte is the student history society at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germany. It pre-dates the Cumann Staire as it is believed to have been set up around the same time of the re-establishing of the History Dept. of that college in 1946.

In 2005/2006, a new working agreement was made between history departments of NUI Galway and Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, consequently parallel links were forged between the two student societies. There has been a link between the two societies ever since. An Cumann Staire have took several members of the Fachschaft under their wing and had them serve as Erasmus Rep. There has been an Erasmus Rep. from Mainz on the committee for most years of the last decade. Several trips have been made to Mainz by the society and for conferences. The Fachschaft too returned the favour too coming to Galway on a number of occasions.

=Activities=

Lectures
Each year the society organises a number of academic lectures given by a range of historians from Ireland and abroad. This normally consists of a lecture of 40–60 minutes, a questions and answers session of around 20 minutes and an informal wine reception follows. On occasion too there have been speakers who have been storytellers such as Edmund Lenihan or others who have spoken about their own experiences, for instance in 1998/99, Laurence McKeown spoke about his experience as a hunger striker.

Notable Speakers

 * John Baines>
 * Brian Pullan
 * Brendan Bradshaw
 * Bruce Campbell
 * Catherine Clinton
 * Cormac Ó Gráda
 * Daniel Gahan
 * David Harkness
 * David Fitzpatrick
 * Éamon Ó Cuiv
 * Edmund Lenihan
 * Erskine Childers
 * Farrell McElgunn
 * Fergus Kelly
 * Géaróid Ó Tuthaigh
 * George Simms
 * Gennadi Uranov
 * Gerard G. Colgan
 * Gerald Hanley
 * Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy
 * James Francis Lydon
 * John de Courcy Ireland
 * John H. Plumb
 * Joseph Bergin
 * Laurence McKeown
 * Leon Ó Broin
 * Malcolm Barber
 * Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan
 * Maurice Manning
 * Michael O'Riordan
 * Michael D. Higgins
 * Micheál Ó Siochrú
 * Nicholas Canny
 * Nicholas Furlong
 * Pádraig de Brún
 * Pádraig Ó Snodaigh
 * Patrick Collinson
 * Patrick Geoghegan
 * Patrick Lindsay
 * Peter Blickle
 * Peter Hart
 * Philip Morgan
 * Proinsias Mac Aonghusa
 * Próinséas Ní Chatháin
 * Richard Vinen
 * Stephen Mennell
 * Thomas Bartlett
 * Thomas Charles-Edwards
 * Tomas O Fiach
 * Tim Pat Coogan

Conference Attendance
The Society each year sends a delegation to the I.H.S.A. conference providing it is not hosted in Galway. This normally takes place over a weekend in February or March on any given year. Depending on the scheduling of the seminars and conferences (which often clash with the NUI Galway academic calender) the Cumann Staire regulary sends a delegation to the events.

Social Events
Aswell as academic events, the society organises numerous social events throughout the year. An Cumann Staire aims to provide an outlet for students to meet students with similar interests. Each year there is usually several meet & greet nights for new members; a table quiz at least once a year, a society reception for new members in september, halloweeen and christmas parties, aswell as an end of year dinner. In 2016, a silent disco was also organised in the college bar.

Arts Ball
Every february the NUI Galway Arts Faculty Ball or the Arts Dress Dance is held in Galway. An Cumann Staire has organised it since the 1978 when it took over from the now defunct Arts Society after a significant intervening period. It caters for the single largest faculty of the university. It is attended by students and staff alike.

Thus since its inception it has traditionally been the largest university ball and has a large demand for tickets. On some occasions students camped out over night from one in the morning to secure tickets. Some even joined the queue on their way home from another ball. In recent years it has massively jumped from an attendance of 490 students in 2002 to a high of 1,700 in 2011. Arts Ball 2009 won the "Best Event" award at the NUI Galway Students' Union awards. It has been the largest dinner dance event in Ireland.

It has generally been the only ball to have a dedicated webpage. In 2012, [artsball.nuig.ie] was acquired, and it was the first ball on campus to have a dedicated website with all the relevant information. In the same year a specific page was set up on Facebook for the event.

The Arts Ball is also notable for the large amounts of money it donates to charity, something not all the other university balls have an emphasis on. It has also made donations to the history department for the purpose of purchasing history books for the library. It has raised upwards of €10,000 on several occasions.

Trips
Every year An Cumann Staire usually organises a national and international trip. The trips are open to all members and take in historical sights, museums and plenty of fun. The national trip normally takes place in the first semester, there have been trips to Belfast and Cork in recent years. The international trip would take place in the second semester. There have been trips abroad to Turkey, Germany, Scotland, Italy, Protugal and Estonia in recent years.

=List of Past Reachtairí / Auditors=


 * 2015-16:     Jordan Markey
 * 2014-15:     Patrick Deane
 * 2013-14:     Louise Collins
 * 2012-13:	Dónal Ó Catháin
 * 2011-12:	Joe Regan
 * 2010-11:	Nóra Ní Dhomhnaill
 * 2009-10:	Aidín Nic An Airchinnigh
 * 2008-09:	Tadhg Ó Broin
 * 2007-08:	Tonaí Ó Roduibh
 * 2006-07:	Tonaí Ó Roduibh
 * 2005-06:	Tadhg Ó Broin
 * 2004-05:	Eimear O'Shea & Ciara Sims
 * 2003-04:	David Russell & Susan Murphy
 * 2002-03:	Sarah Fahy
 * 2001-02:	Sarah Fahy
 * 2000-01:	Gráinne McDonagh
 * 1999-00:	Annaleigh Margey
 * 1998-99:	Seán Ó Murchadha
 * 1997-98:	Brigid Ryan
 * 1996-97:	Unknown
 * 1995-96:	Unknown
 * 1994-95:	Unknown
 * 1993-94:	Unknown
 * 1992-93:	Unknown
 * 1991-92:	Ciaran Duffy
 * 1990-91:	Nora Fleming
 * 1989-90:	Marie-Teresa Moran
 * 1988-89:	Declan Spellman
 * 1987-88:	Cliodhna Ní Anluain
 * 1986-87:	Anne-Marie Caulfield
 * 1985-86:	Marie Boran
 * 1984-85:	Christopher Day
 * 1983-84:	Tommy Kearns
 * 1982-83:	Unknown
 * 1981-82:	Mossi Collins
 * 1980-81:	Linda Hannon
 * 1979-80:	Brendan Smith
 * 1978-79:	Roy Lalor
 * 1977-78:	Richard Moore
 * 1975-76:	Brian MacCuarta
 * 1974-75:	Gerard Hand
 * 1973-74:	Joseph Carey
 * 1972-73:	Peter Soblewski
 * 1971-72:	John Burke
 * 1970-71:	Michael Conlon
 * 1969-70:	Unknown
 * 1968-69:	Tony Shine
 * 1967-68:	Tom O'Shaughnessy
 * 1966-67:	Unknown
 * 1965-66:	Aodh Ó Dochartaigh
 * 1964-65:	Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
 * 1963-64:	Nicholas Canny
 * 1962-63:	Maureen Langan
 * 1961-62:	Unknown
 * 1960-61:	Unknown
 * 1959-60:	Mary M. O'Sullivan
 * 1958-59:	Tom N. Powell
 * 1957-58:	Bruce Blake
 * 1956-57:	Patrick Murray
 * 1955-56:	Proinséas Ní Chatháin
 * 1954-55:	Proinséas Ní Chatháin
 * 1953-54:	Louis Cullen
 * 1952-53:	Unknown
 * 1951-52:	Claire Naughton

=Notable Former Members=


 * Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy
 * Gearóid Mac Niocaill
 * Gearóid Ó Tuthaigh
 * Nicholas Canny
 * Próinséas Ní Chatháin
 * Louis Cullen
 * James Francis Lydon
 * T.P. O'Neill
 * Tony Bromell
 * Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan

=Trivia=
 * As per tradition n societies day, new members have tea bags pinned to their breast.
 * The society was the first college society to have an Irish President address it when Erskine Childers addressed the society in 1974.
 * Cumann Staire was the first and remains the only Irish society of the International Students of History Association.
 * Up until the late 1960s, the auditor of the society would give the inaugural paper of the academic year.

=References=

=Websites & Social Media=
 * Cumann Staire Website
 * Arts Ball Website
 * On Facebook
 * On Twitter
 * On YouTube
 * On Bebo

=External Links=
 * NUI Galway
 * Irish History Students Association
 * International Students' of History Association
 * NUI Galway Societies Office

Category:Historical Societies History Society, University Category:National University of Ireland, Galway