Clodagh Finn: UCC names its first building after a female graduate — at long last

Very late in the day but still reason to celebrate the achievements of an overlooked woman

Iris Ashley Cummins (centre) pictured with the UCC ladies hockey club after winning the Munster Cup in 1914

Wed, 23 Feb, 2022 - 06:50

Clodagh Finn is a journalist, writer and collector of stories. Her recent book, The Irish in the Resistance, co-authored with John Morgan, shines a light on the forgotten contributions of the Irish who resisted Hitler during WW2.

What happy, hopeful news. The civil engineering building at University College Cork has just been named after its first female engineering graduate, Iris Ashley Cummins.

It is, incredibly, the first building on campus to be named after a woman. It’s very late in the day — the university was founded in 1845 — but there is still reason to celebrate when the achievements of an overlooked woman are finally written in stone, so to speak.