When Britain’s Queen Elizabeth visited Ireland in May 2011 she was shown a small statue of her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, by college historian John A Murphy and told the strange story of how, in 1934, amidst republican fervour, the beautiful limestone sculpture was buried in the garden of UCC.

IRISH academics are bottom of the class when it comes to attracting investment from big business, a worldwide study of universities shows.

IF Queen Elizabeth deigns to come to Cork during her State visit to Ireland, they may have to do a bit of heavy lifting at UCC. A statue of her predecessor, Queen Victoria, once held pride of place on the roof of the college’s Aula Maxima when it was Queen’s University Cork.