![Text: "[the] ONE THING" on a dark blue world map. "the" is golden and bracketed; "ONE THING" is large, white.](/assets/651794/950x/the_one_thing_graphic_1200_x_400_px_3_.webp)
This story is part of Notre Dame Global's series titled "The One Thing."
In 2026, we are taking a new look at Notre Dame’s 12 global locations by asking each of their directors one question: “What is the one thing you would like the Notre Dame community to know about your programs, your achievements, your goals, or your aspirations?”
We focus now on Notre Dame Dublin, headed since 2024 by Eimear Clowry Delaney, Michael J. Smurfit Director, who joined the Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre in 2008 and previously served as its senior associate director.
What is the one thing you want the Notre Dame community to know about Notre Dame Dublin?
“Student learning and teaching are at the core of everything we do.”
EIMEAR CLOWRY DELANEY: Notre Dame Dublin was founded in 1998—nearly 30 years ago. That is our origin story—we began as a student center, a learning center in Dublin. All of our current programs and collaborations spring from that history.
Since the center’s founding, the Notre Dame students who come to Dublin have been the pathfinders in Ireland for the University as a whole and for its many collaborations with Irish society more broadly. The fifty or so undergraduates who come to us each semester for a study abroad experience attend classes—and are fully immersed—in one of three universities: Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, or University College Dublin. And, when one of us at O’Connell House encounters a potential partner or collaborator—if they've had an experience with our students—they are more than willing to engage with us. They trust us based on the experiences they've had with our young people—whether through one of the three universities or through one of our many internship placements during the semester or summer—at the National Gallery of Art or the Department of Foreign Affairs, for instance.
A beautiful, organic respect has been built for Notre Dame as an institution through these outstanding young people, from their desire to be in Ireland, their curiosity for the island they inhabit, and for their work during the time they're with us.
Why is that one thing—that student learning and teaching are at the core of everything you do—so important to Notre Dame Dublin?
“Making student learning and teaching central is how we engage with the purpose of a university—to educate and to inspire brilliant young minds to not only transform the world, but to transform how they see the world, how they feel in the world, and how they want to be in the world in the future.”
EIMEAR CLOWRY DELANEY: Our students come to us with ambition, curiosity, drive, creativity, and diverging opinions. That makes them brave, and these qualities make us brave, too.
Related to that bravery, one thing I am passionate about is that a part of studying abroad, researching abroad, and learning abroad is getting lost. If a program is too prescriptive, students aren’t able to see that while Ireland is an ancient island, we are also very advanced in today’s world. That can surprise some young people—but that can only happen if they are given the opportunity to explore, to get lost a bit, and go farther and deeper than one does with a typical tourist experience.
For that reason, here at Notre Dame Dublin, our core focus is building community, learning, and growing together through, as we say, “the soles of our feet.”
Our motto is Is ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine, an Irish proverb that translates to "People live in the shelter of each other,” reflecting our interconnectedness and reliance on community to survive and thrive.
The hundreds of students who have embraced this way of study abroad are a testimony to its effectiveness. One such student is Meera Baakta ‘26, who says, “In Dublin, I was able to explore questions similar to those across science and development that I studied at Notre Dame’s home campus, but within a different intellectual and social ecosystem. Connecting with professors and peers across courses such as Trinity College Dublin’s EthicsLab, I was able to expand my understanding of complex dilemmas and enrich my experience by learning alongside people formed by different histories and perspectives. I also began to learn the Irish language in classes at O’Connell House, and then continued my studies back on campus.” See Meera's story below
What does that one thing reveal about Notre Dame Dublin and Ireland overall?
“We Irish are a curious people, an island of people within a very small land mass who live in close proximity to each other. We build strong relationships within our own, sometimes parochial, communities. But we thrive in getting to know new people, and that curiosity—of wanting to interrogate, discuss, converse, or debate with others—is a very strong part of Irish culture.”
EIMEAR CLOWRY DELANEY: This quality of curiosity about how others think is at the core of who we are as a people. And, to be able to bring new people into the fold who may not think the same, that in itself is very Irish.
Curiosity works both ways. A key opportunity with international education is to understand that, wherever they claim citizenry, people are not really that different. The challenges we face are very much shared. With that realization comes a desire to problem-solve together. So, as a little island on the periphery of the Atlantic and of Europe, we Irish have traditionally felt rather isolated and alone. But now, Ireland has taken on a new identity—one of being a changemaker. We have a tiny population, but we have a very significant voice in the world. We will flourish and thrive only if we share that with the world and invite and welcome other people to be with us.
Interrogating how Ireland has been a changemaker was one of the subjects of the “Translating Ireland” symposium Notre Dame Dublin hosted with several partners this past April to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of the influential book by Michael Cronin, Translating Ireland. Led by Clíona Ní Ríordáin, the Thomas J. and Kathleen M. O’Donnell Chair in Irish Language and Literature, participants explored the central role translation played in the contact zone between languages as well as how it shaped the development of the languages of literature and the construction of identity in Ireland.
Looking ahead, I am very excited about an upcoming partnership within the University’s Arts Initiative between Notre Dame Dublin and Notre Dame Mexico. We are excited to make a joint announcement soon that will include all the details.
Learn more about the work of Notre Dame Dublin and the University of Notre Dame’s global network, or browse related articles:
- Daniel O’Connell: The Emancipator Documentary Launched by Notre Dame Dublin
- 2026 Valedictorian and Salutatorian both studied in Dublin
- With several partners, including Notre Dame Dublin, Professor Clíona Ní Ríordáin co-organizes a symposium to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of the influential book Translating Ireland by Michael Cronin
- Notre Dame Dublin students explore the European pilgrimage tradition
- Notre Dame students embrace community-engaged learning in Ireland
- Notre Dame Dublin supports four Nanovic sustainability fellows
- Mariana Silva ND ’21 and Trinity College Dublin graduate student studies a bog’s life and why preserving Ireland’s bogs is so important
Learn more about the collaborative work and partners of Notre Dame Dublin
The Legacy of Daniel O’Connell
The Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre at O’Connell House is the home of Notre Dame Dublin. Located at Number 58, Merrion Square, the centre was once home to the celebrated early nineteenth-century Irish Catholic political leader Daniel O’Connell.
O’Connell is the subject of a documentary titled Daniel O’Connell: The Emancipator, produced by Create One in association with the University of Notre Dame, University College Cork, and RTÉ, Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster.
The documentary traces O’Connell’s journey from Kerry lawyer to global advocate for justice. Known as “The Liberator,” he secured Catholic Emancipation, pioneered non-violent mass political mobilization, and inspired democratic movements around the world.
The release of Daniel O’Connell: The Emancipator will form part of a four-year-long program of commemorations and research, from O’Connell’s 250th birthday in 2025 to the 200th anniversary of Catholic Emancipation in 2029, inviting audiences to reflect on how his vision for justice and democracy continues to shape our world.
The gala premiere of the documentary was held in Dublin in November 2025.
There will be a screening of The Emancipator on the Notre Dame campus Friday, November 13th, at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and another screening at the Chicago Consulate Film Festival on Sunday, November 15th.
More than a Semester Abroad
Meera Bhakta ‘26 graduated with a major in science preprofessional studies and a minor in international development. During the spring 2025 semester, she studied at Trinity College Dublin and will return to Trinity this fall as a Naughton Fellow pursuing a masters of science degree in translational oncology.
MEERA BHAKTA: For my study abroad experience at Notre Dame, I explored programs from Santiago to Copenhagen, hoping there would be a clear sign pointing me in one direction. Eventually, I chose Trinity College Dublin because it allowed me to take a wide range of courses I was interested in and would allow me to fully integrate into a host university. At the time, I had researched Trinity extensively, but I knew relatively little about Ireland itself. Looking back, that is part of what made the experience so impactful. By not knowing, I was open to the surprises Ireland had in store for me.
In Dublin, I was able to explore questions similar to those I studied at Notre Dame across science and development, but within a different intellectual and social ecosystem. Connecting with professors and peers across courses such as EthicsLab, I was able to expand my understanding of complex dilemmas and enrich my experience by learning alongside people formed by different histories and perspectives.
Beyond the classroom, Dublin also impacted me through the people and communities I engaged with. Every Tuesday, I volunteered with an after-school program at St. Catherine’s Church through the Solas project. Some afternoons were spent helping with homework, others playing outside, organizing holiday activities, or sharing stories. Those Tuesdays filled my semester with an unexpected source of laughter and friendship, and taught me about allowing myself to be shaped by the people around me.
O’Connell House also became a valuable home base throughout the semester, providing a place for conversations, reunions with friends studying across the city, tea and digestive breaks, and opportunities to learn more about the Irish language, history, and culture. I began studying Irish through classes there, and then continued my studies back on campus.
I am so grateful to be returning to Dublin this fall with the support of the Naughton Fellowships to pursue an MSc in Translational Oncology at Trinity College Dublin. My time in Dublin helped me to see Ireland not just as a semester abroad, but as a place where I can continue to grow intellectually, personally, and professionally. I hope to continue studying the Irish language upon my return and plan to visit the Gaeltacht.
Imagallamh: the Keough-Naughton Summer School in Irish Studies
A summer seminar for graduate students in the humanities is held every year in Ireland between Notre Dame Dublin and Notre Dame Kylemore.
Called “Imagallamh,” which means “mutual discourse,” the seminar seeks to emphasize the international and comparative elements of Irish studies. It also aims to bring the next cohort of scholars in the field into meaningful dialogue with one another and with key figures in Irish scholarship, the arts, and society. In addition to Notre Dame students, this year’s cohort included students from Britain, Canada, India, Ireland, Italy, Latin America, and the US. Each student received a fully-funded scholarship.
Directed by Barry McCrea, the Donald R. Keough Family Professor of Irish Studies and Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, with the collaboration of Clíona Ní Ríordáin, the Thomas J. and Kathleen M. O’Donnell Chair in Irish Language and Literature, Imagallamh was launched in 2024 as a new iteration of the Keough-Naughton Institute’s IRISH Seminar, which ran from 1999 to 2022. That seminar was held in Ireland and locations around the globe, with such themes as Ireland and Britain, Classical Influences, Irish Modernisms, Ireland and Italy, and Peripheral Modernities: Ireland, Argentina, and Latin America.
The theme of the 2026 Imagallamh seminar was Urban Ireland. Across two weeks, students engaged with academics and writers to explore the historical, cultural, and literary dimensions of settlement on the island—from its earliest origins, including prehistoric settlements, early monastic complexes, Viking towns, and British garrisons, through to the life of Ireland’s modern cities.
Some highlights of the Dublin week of the seminar included lectures on Sean O’Casey and the development of Dublin’s built environment from the Georgian city through independence, an interdisciplinary conversation between leading Dublin architects and poets, and a trip to the Tenement Museum on Henrietta Street.