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Introduction

Michael Tierney was born on the 30th of September 1894. He is most famous for being the President of University College Dublin for 17 years between the years 1947-1964. He was born in Esker, County Galway in the west of Ireland. He was educated in UCD and went on to study classical studies at the Sorbonne, Athens and Berlin. While studying at UCD Tierney won a National University Travelling studentship. This allowed him to travel and study abroad. He became a lecturer in classics at UCD in 1915 at the age of 21. This impressive feat was a sign of things to come in Tierney’s professional life. Tierney also ventured out into politics, becoming a member of the Blueshirts. He then went onto join Dáil Éireann, soon to become a member of both Seanad Éireann and the Council of State. He left the political sphere to return to UCD, becoming president in 1947. Arguably Tierney’s greatest achievement while president of UCD was moving the campus to Belfield. UCD was previously located in Dublin city centre, but Tierney had it moved to the more suburban area of Belfield. Tierney is one of the most influential people in the modern history of University College Dublin, with both the move to Belfield and the massive expansion of the college, in terms of both size of the campus and number of staff and students.

Early Life

Michael Tierney grew up in Esker, near Castleblakeney, in County Galway. His family had come from Lough Caragh in Mayo. His father, Michael Tierney senior, was fifty seven when his son was born and he had a farm of ten acres. While at his local national school Tierney had a teacher named Mannion, who saw the potential in him and kept him back for extra tuition after school. At thirteen he won a place at St. Joseph’s College, Ballinasloe, where he boarded. This is where his excellent, near fluent Irish, flourished. His father was not a particularly gifted irish speaker and his mother could speak the language with no issue. It was not the language of his household, so it was not until he moved to St. Josephs where he could hone his skills. Ballinasloe provided Tierney with the full and solid training in Greek and Latin, which won him a First Class Entrance scholarship into University College Dublin. When he enrolled in there the idea was that he would go into the Church. One of his brothers was studying for the Priesthood but died before ordination.

Academic Life

University College Dublin opened in November of 1909, and Tierney enrolled there in the autumn of 1911. At that time there were only 765 students in the college. This is a far cry from the 7,000 when Tierney retired as President in 1964. When Tierney came into UCD there was a lot of construction taking place. A lot of the renovations were stalled by the war and none of the new buildings came into use until 1919. UCD was based in Earlsfort Terrace, Cecilia Street and St. Stephen’s Green at the time and Tierney would later play a major role in moving the college to Belfield. Tierney took his Greek and Latin B.A. course in the building in which he later gave the permanent name of Newman House. His professor for Latin was Patrick Semple and Father Henry Browne taught him Greek. He earned his honours in B.A. in 1914 and became a lecturer in classics in 1915. In 1917 he won the University Travelling Studentship in classics, allowing him to travel Europe to study his passion. Unfortunately, Europe was inaccessible at the time because of the war, so Tierney had to wait for the war to end. He became an assistant in classics until 1919 when he went abroad to study. During his three years studying in Europe, he divided it among three universities. He studied in the British School of Archaeology of Athens, the Sorbonne and in Berlin. Along with continuing his studies in classics during this time, he greatly improved his French and German, grasping the languages very thoroughly. When he returned to Ireland he resumed his role as an assistant in classics at UCD. In 1923 he was promoted to Professor of Greek in UCD at the age of 29. This is one of his many prestigious achievements, along with moving UCD to Belfield in the future. He held the position of Professor for twenty five years. Tierney married Eibhlin, the eldest daughter of Professor Eoin MacNeill. They went on to have seven children, five sons and two daughters. His marriage to the daughter of Eoin MacNeill brought Tierney closer to MacNeill, this no doubt served to enhance his future political career..

Political Career

During Tierney’s third year in University College Dublin, he attended Eoin MacNeill’s volunteer meeting at the rotunda in November 1913. When Sinn Fein divided over the treaty, Tierney aligned himself on the side of the treaty. He sat in Dáil Éireann for North Mayo, where he hailed from, between the years 1925-27. He then went on to represent the National University between the years 1927-32, serving seven years in total. Tierney was a member of Cumann na nGaedheal, and had a role to play in renaming the party to Fine Gael. After 1932 he was not again elected to the Dáil. Although he was a member of the Gaelteacht Commission, the Second Chamber Commission and the Commission on Vocational Education from 1926 to 1939. His most prestigious roles in his political life were undoubtedly as Vice Chairman of Seanad Éireann and a member of the Council of State, in 1938-44 and 1940-44 respectively. While discussing a finance bill in parliament Tierney laid out his belief for the state and its people. “I say, again, that it is going to be of the utmost importance to this State, as to every other State, that its foundation shall rest on a basis of free and independent citizens who do not have to turn to the State or to any other public authority to enable them to live”

In this Tierney showed his intent for the people, which was very ambitious. The instant reaction to that was “That is a brave statement.” Tierney clearly played a pivotal role in the governing of Ireland during the period of the Second World War, helping to ensure Ireland’s neutrality and its prosperity. He could potentially have become a Parliamentary Secretary, if not a minister, had he not become President of UCD in 1947. He gained invaluable experience in his time as a politician. This experience helped him to lead UCD into its new prosperous age resulting in the college moving to Belfield in his term as President.

UCD President

After an impressive career in politics, Michael Tierney returned to University College Dublin and became the college president in 1947. He had previously been a lecturer in the college and was promoted to Professor of Greek in 1923, at the age of 29. Arthur W. Conway was the UCD President from 1940 until 1947 and when his term was coming to an end, Michael Tierney was initially hesitant to run for the presidency. After much persuasion from his peers, Tierney ran and won. The people who encouraged Tierney to run not only considered him to be a good candidate, but he was young enough at the age of 53, to stay on as President for a prolonged period of time. Tierney’s charisma, energy, academic pedigree and leadership were unquestionable. His appointment as president was welcomed by many students and faculty alike. One former student, Tom Donnelly, described his appointment as “The long overdue triumph of dynamic liberalism in university education”. Tierney showed a genuine interest in every aspect of college life. This was highlighted in one of his most renowned works, A Tribute to Newman: Essays on Aspects of his Life and Thought, showed this more than any of his other works. In his first few years as President he could do little but keep the college going. The defining achievement of Tierney’s time as UCD President is without doubt, moving the college onto the Belfield campus. UCD had been previously situated at Earlsfort Terrace, St. Stephen’s Green and Cecilia Street. When Tierney had proposed the idea, there were many who opposed it. A large number of the students would have lived near these areas and travelling out to the suburban Bellfield, was very difficult for some students. By 1949 the first of many purchases at the Belfield site on Stillorgan Road was made. The Professor of Architecture Joseph Downes, drew up the plans for the 123 acre site. Tierney worked tirelessly for many years to make his dream of expanding UCD into a reality. The first sod was turned at the Belfield campus in September 1962, bringing Tierney’s vision for the university into fruition. Michael Tierney is most certainly one of the most important figures in the history of University College Dublin, turning the college into a juggernaut of academia in the modern world.

Achievements

Throughout his life Michael Tierney achieved many impressive feats. His first accolade came at thirteen where he won a place at St. Joseph’s Ballinasloe, this was the platform for Tierney to perfect his Irish and gave him solid foundations in Greek and Latin. While in St. Joseph’s Tierney won a First Class Entrance scholarship into University College Dublin. Tierney’s time at UCD was the base for what he went on to achieve in life. He also he won the University Travelling Studentship in classics in 1917, allowing him to travel Europe to study classical studies. He spent two years studying at the Sorbonne, Athens and Berlin. He became a lecturer of classics in 1915 at the age of 21, and was later promoted to Professor of Greek in 1923 at the age of 29. Tierney spent many years in politics but his biggest success in politics is most certainly his roles as Vice Chairman of Seanad Éireann and a member of the Council of State, in 1938-44 and 1940-44 respectively. The crowning achievement of Michael Tierney’s life was undoubtedly the transition of UCD to Belfield. Tierney became the President of University College Dublin in 1947, following Arthur W. Conway. He took the college from the city centre of Dublin and brought it to the suburban area of Belfield. When Tierney enrolled at UCD in 1911, there were only 765 students at the college. When he retired as President that number had risen to around 7,000 students. The move to Belfield allowed University College Dublin to become one of the most renowned and prestigious colleges in the world. This feat could not have been achieved without the vital input of Michael Tierney.