University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD; ) is a research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. It has over 1,482 academic staff and 32,000 students, and it is Ireland's second largest university after TU Dublin, based on 2017/18 student enrolments. UCD originates in a body founded in 1854, which opened as the Catholic University of Ireland on the Feast of Saint Malachy and with John Henry Newman as its first rector; it re-formed in 1880 and chartered in its own right in 1908. The Universities Act, 1997 renamed the constituent university as the "National University of Ireland, Dublin", and a ministerial order of 1998 renamed the institution as "University College Dublin – National University of Ireland, Dublin".

Originally in locations across Dublin city, all faculties have since relocated to a  campus at Belfield, four kilometres to the south of the city centre.

The 2020 U.S. News & World Report rates UCD as the highest globally ranked Irish university, and the 2019 QS World University Rankings rate UCD as 1st in Ireland and 78th in the world for employability and reputation.

A report published in May 2015 showed the economic output generated by UCD and its students in Ireland amounted to €1.3 billion annually. UCD is frequently ranked among the top universities in Europe. Five Nobel Laureates are among UCD's alumni and current and former staff.

History
UCD can trace its history to the institution founded in 1854 as the Catholic University of Ireland. It became University College Dublin in 1908 under the Universities Act.

Catholic University of Ireland

After the Catholic Emancipation period of Irish history, Archbishop of Armagh attempted to provide for the first time in Ireland higher-level education for followers of the Catholic Church and taught by such people. The Catholic Hierarchy demanded a Catholic alternative to the University of Dublin's Trinity College, whose Anglican origins the Hierarchy refused to overlook. Since the 1780s, the University of Dublin had admitted Catholics to study; a religious test, however, hindered the efforts of Catholics in their desire to obtain membership of the University's governing bodies. Thus, in 1850 at the Synod of Thurles, it was decided to open a university in Dublin for Catholics.

As a result of these efforts, a new "Catholic University of Ireland" opened in 1854, with John Henry Newman appointed as its first rector. The Catholic University opened its doors on the feast of St Malachy, 3 November 1854. 

As a private university, Catholic University was never given a royal charter, and so was unable to award recognised degrees and suffered from chronic financial difficulties. Newman left the university in 1857. Bartholomew Woodlock was appointed Rector and served until he became Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise in 1879.

In 1880, the Royal University of Ireland was established and allowed students from any college to take examinations for a degree.

Foundation of University College Dublin

In 1882, Catholic University was renamed University College, and began participating in the Royal University system. The college attracted academics from around Ireland, including Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins and James Joyce. Some notable staff and students at the school during this period included Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Patrick Pearse, Hugh Kennedy, Eoin MacNeill, Kevin O'Higgins, Tom Kettle, James Ryan, Douglas Hyde and John A. Costello. 

In 1908, the National University of Ireland was founded and the following year the Royal University was dissolved. This new University was brought into existence with three constituent University Colleges – Dublin, Galway and Cork. Following the establishment of the NUI, D. J. Coffey, Professor of Physiology, Catholic University Medical School, became the first president of UCD.
Under the Universities Act, 1997, University College Dublin was established as a constituent university within the National University of Ireland framework.

UCD and the Irish War of Independence

UCD is a major holder of archives of national and international significance relating to the Irish War of Independence.

In 1913, in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, Eoin MacNeill, professor of early Irish history, called for the formation of an Irish nationalist force to counteract it. The Irish Volunteers were formed later that year and MacNeill was elected its Chief-of-staff. At the outbreak of World War I, in view of the Home Rule Act 1914 and the political perception that it might not be implemented, the leader of the Home Rule Party, John Redmond, urged the Irish Volunteers to support the British war effort as a way of supporting Irish Home Rule. This effort on behalf of Home Rule included many UCD staff and students. Many of those who opposed this move later participated in the Easter Rising.

Several UCD staff and students participated in the rising, including Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Michael Hayes and James Ryan, and a smaller number, including Tom Kettle and Willie Redmond, fought for the British in World War I.

Many UCD staff, students and alumni fought in the Irish War of Independence. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, four UCD graduates joined the government of the Irish Free State.

UCD graduates have since participated in Irish political life – three of the nine Presidents of Ireland and six of the fourteen Taoisigh have been either former staff or graduates.

Move to Belfield

By the early 1940s, the College had become the largest third-level institution in the state. In an effort to cope with the increased numbers unsuccessful attempts were made to expand the existing city-centre campus. It was finally decided that the best solution would be to move the College to a much larger greenfield site outside of the city centre and create a modern campus university. This move started in the early 1960s when the faculty of science moved to the new  park campus at Belfield in a suburb on the south side of Dublin. The Belfield campus has since developed into a complex of modern buildings and inherited Georgian townhouses, accommodating the colleges of the University as well as its student residences and many leisure and sporting facilities.

One of UCD's previous locations, the Royal College of Science on Merrion Street is now the location of the renovated Irish Government Building, where the Department of the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) is situated. University College Dublin had also a site in Glasnevin for much of the last century, the Albert Agricultural College, the southern part of which is now occupied by Dublin City University, the northern part is where Ballymun town is located.

Architecture
The new campus was largely designed by A&D Wejchert & Partners Architects and includes several notable structures, including the UCD Water Tower which was built in 1972 by John Paul Construction. The Tower won the 1979 Irish Concrete Society Award. It stands 60 metres high with a dodecahedron tank atop a pentagonal pillar. The Tower is part of the UCD Environmental Research Station.

Timeline
1854 – The Catholic University of Ireland opens with Blessed John Henry Newman as the first rector. It is located on St Stephen's Green.
1855 – The Catholic University Medical School was opened in 1855 in Cecilia Street.
1856 – University Church was opened in 1856. Apart from religious services it was used also for public university functions and occasions such as the opening of academic sessions and the making of awards.
1861 – Bartholomew Woodlock appointed Rector and served until he became Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise in 1879.
1879 – Henry Neville, Dean of Cork appointed Rector (while still retaining his role as Parish Priest in a Cork parish).
1880 – The University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 brought in by Disraeli's government led to the establishment of the Royal University of Ireland (incorporated by charter in 1880) which was a non-teaching, degree-awarding institution.
1882/83 – The Catholic University reorganised to avail of the indirect endowment from the state through the Royal University of Ireland. The St Stephen's Green institution was renamed University College and its management was transferred to the Jesuits.
1883–1888 – Fr William Delany SJ appointed the first president of University College.
1908 –  Irish Universities Act brought into being the National University of Ireland with its constituent University Colleges – Dublin, Galway and Cork, and led to the demise of the Royal University and the Jesuit-run University College. Denis Coffey appointed the first president of reformed UCD. Coffey was to hold the position for 30 years. The Medical School in Cecilia Street became the UCD Medical Faculty. The campus covers, Earlsfort Terrace, Cecilia Street, College of Science Merrion Street, Albert College Glasnevin and St Stephen's Green.
1908 – The Faculty of Commerce established.
1911 – Land donated by Lord Iveagh helps the university expand in Earlsfort Terrace/Hatch Street/ St Stephen's Green. Iveagh Gardens are a part of this donation.
1913 – University Park, Terenure became the base of UCD sports clubs between 1913 and 1934 – although the landlord would not sell the site to UCD.
1916 – A number of junior staff and students participated in the Easter Rising.
1926- University Education (Agriculture and Dairy Science) Act transferred the Royal College of Science in Merrion Street and Albert Agricultural College in Glasnevin to UCD.
1933  – Belfield House on 44 acres is bought for sporting purposes.
1940 – Arthur Conway appointed president. During this period various plans were developed but failed to succeed to expand along Iveagh Gardens, Hatch Street and Earlsfort Terrace.
1964 – Jeremiah Hogan appointed president (1964–1972). Under the leadership of Thomas E. Nevin the science faculty moves into new campus at Belfield. UCD becomes the first University in Europe to launch an MBA programme.
1967 – Minister for Education, Donogh O'Malley, proposes plan to merge UCD and Trinity.
1969–1970 – Faculties of Commerce, Arts and Law move to Belfield.
1972 – Thomas Murphy appointed president (1972–1985).
1973 – The Library (Now known as the James Joyce Library) opens.
1980 – Richview and 17.4 acres bought. Architecture moves in there.
1981 – Sports Complex opens.
1986 – Patrick Masterson appointed president. (1986–1993)
1990s – In the 1990s, some of the students of Women's Studies petitioned to rename their Gender Studies building after Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington to honour her contribution to women's rights and equal access to third-level education. Her husband Francis Sheehy-Skeffington was himself an alumnus of the university and Hanna of the Royal University, a sister university of UCD. Their campaign was successful and the building was renamed the Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington Building.
1990 – Engineering building opens. Most, but not all of the Earlsfort terrace, Engineering department moves to Belfield.
1990 – Carysfort College, Blackrock on 19 acres bought and is the location of the Smurfit Graduate School of Business. First student village (Belgrove) opened.
1992 – Second student village (Merville) opened. The Centre for Film Studies established.
1993 – Art Cosgrove appointed president (1994–2003).
1994 – O'Reilly Hall opened.
2003 – NovaUCD, a 110 million Euro Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre opened. The purpose-built centre was funded by a public/private partnership. UCD purchased the Philips site and buildings adjacent to the Belfield campus at Clonskeagh, to facilitate the relocation of the Departments of Civil and Agricultural & Food Engineering from Earlsfort Terrace, bringing more of the remaining off-campus elements of the University to Belfield.
2004 – Hugh Brady appointed president. UCD celebrates 150th Anniversary.
2006 – UCD Horizons begins.
2007 – With the completion of the final phase of the Health Sciences Building, the last of the departments remaining at Earlsfort terrace relocate to Belfield.
2009 – Innovation Alliance announced between Trinity and UCD.
2010 – NCAD and UCD forge stronger links. The two institutions will form an academic alliance with new joint courses and research across common areas of interest. NCAD will become a recognised college of UCD. NCAD will remain on its current site and retaining institutional autonomy.
2012 – Expanded Student and Sports Centre opened containing an Olympic Swimming pool, cinema and a new gym.
2012 – UCD became embroiled in controversy over its sudden closure and destruction of the athletics track and field facilities beside Belfield House less than a day later. The track had been funded and built using private funding. 
2013 – UCD O'Brien Centre for Science opened replacing much of the 1960s science infrastructure. UCD Sutherland School of Law opened to replace Roebuck Castle for the Law faculty at the South-Western end of the campus.
2014 – Andrew J. Deeks appointed President, the first Australian to hold the highest office in an Irish university.
2015 – UCD opens global centre in US to enable UCD pursue its new global engagement strategy which aims to place the university in the top ten in the world for global engagement

Academic

Colleges and schools

UCD consists of six colleges, their associated schools (37 in total) and multiple research institutes and centres. Each college also has its own Graduate School, for postgraduates.

List of colleges and their respective schools following restructuring in September 2015
 UCD College of Arts and Humanities  
 UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy 
 UCD School of Classics 
 UCD School of English, Drama and Film 
 UCD School of History  
 UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore  
 UCD School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
 UCD School of Music 
 UCD College of Business  
 UCD School of Business
UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business 
UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business
 UCD College of Engineering and Architecture
 UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy  
 UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering  
 UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering 
 UCD School of Civil Engineering  
 UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering  
 UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering 
 UCD College of Health and Agricultural Sciences  
 UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science
 UCD School of Medicine  
 UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems 
 UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science  
 UCD School of Veterinary Medicine
 UCD College of Social Sciences and Law  
 UCD School of Archaeology  
 UCD School of Economics 
 UCD School of Education 
 UCD School of Geography  
 UCD School of Information and Communication Studies  
 UCD School of Law
 UCD School of Philosophy 
 UCD School of Politics and International Relations 
 UCD School of Psychology 
 UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice  
 UCD School of Sociology 
 UCD College of Science
 UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science 
 UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science 
 UCD School of Chemistry  
 UCD School of Computer Science  
 UCD School of Earth Sciences  
 UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics  
 UCD School of Physics

UCD College of Business

The UCD College of Business is made up of the Quinn School of Business, the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, and UCD Business International Campus. The former constituent school, the UCD Quinn School of Business (commonly The Quinn School), is the building in which the UCD College of Business's undergraduate programme is based. It is located in a three-story building on the Belfield campus and is named after Lochlann Quinn, one of the main financial contributors to the school. Other donors included Bank of Ireland, AIB, Irish Life & Permanent, Accenture, KPMG, PwC, Dunnes Stores and Ernst & Young. When first opened in 2002, it claimed to be the only business school in Europe with a specific focus on technology and e-learning.

UCD Horizons
At the beginning of the 2005/2006 academic year, UCD introduced the Horizons curriculum, which completely semesterised and modularised all undergraduate.  Under the new curriculum, students choose ten core modules from their specific subject area and two other modules, which can be chosen from any other programme at the University.

Reputation

Patrons and benefactors
The initial patrons and benefactors of UCD were the Catholic Church.

Undergraduate fees are funded in part by the Irish State (for EU citizens) and by students themselves.

Amongst the most recent patrons include actor Gregory Peck who was a founding patron of the School of Film. Other benefactors include Lochlann Quinn (UCD Quinn School of Business), Michael Smurfit (Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School), Peter Sutherland (Sutherland School of Law), Tony O'Reilly (O'Reilly Hall) and Denis O'Brien (O'Brien Science Centre)

Rankings

As of 2019, UCD was ranked by the QS World University Rankings as 193rd in the world.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed UCD in the range of 201–250 in 2018.

The QS Subject Ranking: Veterinary Science, 2018 ranked UCD 24th globally and 1st in Ireland.

US News & World Report ranked UCD the top university in Ireland for 2020.

The Sunday Times University of the Year 2006 and 2020.

Research and innovation
UCD had a research income of €114.1 million during 2013/14. 

The School of Physics hosts research groups in; Astrophysics, space science and relativity theory (members of the VERITAS and INTEGRAL experiments) and Experimental particle physics (participating in the Large Hadron Collider experiments LHCb and CMS).

Research institutes

Amongst the research institutes of the university are:
 Complex and adaptive systems laboratory
 Centre for Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Investigation
 UCD Earth Institute

External collaborations
Wide partnerships in which UCD is involved include:
 Adaptive Information Cluster (with DCU)
 Centre for Innovation and Structural Change (with NUI Galway and DCU)
 Centre for research on adaptive nanostructures and nanodevices (with TCD and UCC)
 CTVR Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain-Driven Research (with DCU, TCD, NUI Maynooth, UCC, UL, DIT and Sligo IT).
 National Digital Research Centre (with Dublin City University and Trinity College, Dublin).
 National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (with Dublin City University, Trinity College, Dublin and Sligo IT).
Programme for Research on Grid-enabled Computational Physics of Natural Phenomena (with DCU, TCD, UCC DIAS, NUI Galway, HEAnet, Met Éireann, Armagh Observatory and Grid Ireland).
 Advanced Biomimetic Materials for Solar Energy Conversion with the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Airtricity, OBD-Tec and Celtic Catalysts.

Current and former campus companies
The most prominent UCD-related company is the IE Domain Registry; many UCD academics continue to sit on the board of directors. UCD originally gained control of the .ie domain in the late 1980s.

The NovaUCD initiative is UCD's innovation and technology transfer centre, funded through a public-private partnership. In 2004, Duolog relocated its Dublin headquarters to NovaUCD.

Satellite development 
The Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 or EIRSAT-1 is a 2U CubeSat under development at UCD and will be Ireland's first satellite.

Student life

Students' Union

The students' union in the college has been an active part of campaigns run by the National Union, USI, and has played a role in the life of the college since its foundation in 1974.

The Union has also taken stances on issues of human rights that have hit the headlines in Ireland and around the world, in particular it implemented a ban of Coca-Cola products in Student Union controlled shops on the basis of alleged human and trade union rights abuses in Colombia. This ban was overturned in 2010.

Sport

UCD has over 60 sports clubs based on campus with 28 sports scholarships awarded annually.

UCD competes in the most popular Irish field sports of Gaelic Games, Hurling, Soccer and Rugby Union. UCD is the only Irish university to compete in both the major Irish leagues for rugby and soccer with University College Dublin A.F.C. and University College Dublin R.F.C. competing in the top leagues of their respective competitions. UCD GAA have won the most Sigerson Cup (Gaelic Football) whilst they have the second most Fitzgibbon Cup (hurling) wins, both the major University competitions in the sports in Ireland.

UCD sport annually compete in the Colours Match with Trinity College Dublin in a range of sports, most notably in rugby. The rugby side has won 35 of the 57 contests. UCD RFC has produced 13 British and Irish Lions as well 70 Irish Rugby International and 5 for other nations.

In 1985, UCD drew with Everton F.C. in the 1st round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which Everton went on to win.

Other notable team sports in the college basketball side, UCD Marian, victors in the 2012 Irish Basketball Superleague.

The Belfield campus is home to a wide range of sports facilities. Facilities include the National Hockey stadium (which has previously hosted the Women's Hockey World Cup Finals and the Men's Hockey European Championship Finals) and UCD Bowl a 3,000 capacity stadium used for rugby and soccer. UCD has one of the largest fitness centres in the country, squash courts, tennis courts, an indoor rifle range, over twenty sports pitches (for rugby, soccer and Gaelic games), an indoor climbing wall and two large sports halls. The Sportscenter was added to in 2012 with the competition of an Olympic-size swimming pool, a tepidarium and a revamped fitness center as part of the re-development of the UCD Student Centre.

UCD hosted the IFIUS World Interuniversity Games in October 2006.

Leinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby's headquarters and training facility are located on campus, housing the Academy, Senior Squad and Administrative arms of the rugby club. Their facilities include an office block and a high performance facility, located next to the Institute of Sport and Health (ISH). They also use UCD's pitches. It was completed in 2012 at a cost of 2.5 million euro.

Societies

UCD has currently more than sixty student societies. They cater for many interests ranging from large-scale party societies such as Ag Soc, Arts Soc, Commerce and Economics Society, ISS (and its subgroup AfricaSoc), INDSoc(Indian Society) and MSoc(Malaysian Society) who have the largest student communities of Indian and Malaysian students in Ireland. There are also religiously-interested groups such as the Christian Union, the Islamic Society, the Atheist and Secular Society, a television station Campus Television Network, academic-oriented societies like the Economic Society, UCD Philosophy Society, Mathsoc, Classical Society, and An Cumann Gaelach, an Irish-language society and such charities as St. Vincent de Paul, UCDSVP. There are two main societies for international students, ESN UCD (part of the Erasmus Student Network) and the International Student's Society.

Many UCD societies engage in voluntary work on-campus and across Dublin. For example, the UCD Student Legal Service is a student-run society that provides free legal information clinics to the students of UCD.

Irish political parties are represented on campus including Ógra Fianna Fáil, Young Fine Gael, and UCD Labour Youth. The college has two debating unions.

The oldest societies are the Literary and Historical Society, which is currently in its 160th session, An Cumann Gaelach who are entering their 110th session, the Commerce & Economics Society who are entering their 105th session and the Law Society which was founded in 1911. The L&H and Law Society are the major debating societies of the college and two of the leading ones in Ireland. Ireland's most prestigious competition, the Irish Times Debate the L&H has 11 team wins and 12 individual ones with the Law Society achieving 2 team wins and 2 individual wins respectively. The two societies have also been successful further afield at the UK and Ireland John Smith Memorial Mace (formerly The Observer Mace) with the L&H winning 5 titles and Lawsoc 2 titles. UCD has hosted the World University Debating Championships twice, most recently in 2006.  At the start of the 12/13 Academic Year, the Literary and Historical Society achieved a membership of 5143 becoming the largest student society in UCD and in Europe. The UCD Dramsoc is the university drama society, it is noted for an active membership and a number of notable alumni. The university also has a successful sinfonia called University College Dublin Symphony Orchestra.

Student publications and media

Newspapers
UCD has two student newspapers currently published on campus, the broadsheet University Observer and the tabloid College Tribune

The University Observer
The University Observer won the Newspaper of the Year award at the National Student Media Awards in April 2006, an accolade it has achieved many times, most recently in April 2014. Founded in 1994, its first editors were Pat Leahy and comedian Dara Ó Briain. Many figures in Irish journalism have held the position of editor including The Irish Times duty editor Roddy O'Sullivan and political editor Pat Leahy, AFP business reporter Enda Curran, The Irish Examiner political editor Daniel McConnell, RTÉ News reporter Samantha Libreri; Today FM political correspondent Gavan Reilly; and TV researcher Alan Torney. The efforts of its staff were noted by the prestigious Guardian Student Media Awards with a nomination for "Best Newspaper", the first Irish student publication to receive such recognition. In 2001, in addition to several Irish National Student Media Awards, the University Observer under McConnell and Curran took the runner up prize for "Best Publication" at the Guardian Student Media Awards in London. To date, The University Observer has won 29 Irish Student Media Awards.

The main sections within the paper are campus, national and international news, comment, opinion and sport. In addition, each issue is accompanied by an arts and culture supplement called O-Two, with music interviews, travel, fashion and colour pieces. The University Observer is funded by the UCD Students' Union, but its content, in theory, remains editorially independent.

College Tribune
The College Tribune was founded in 1989, with the assistance of noted political commentator Vincent Browne. Then an evening student at UCD, Browne noted the lack of an independent media outlet for students and staff and set about rectifying this with the establishment of a student newspaper. The paper was initially established with links to the Sunday Tribune, though over time these links faded and ultimately, the Tribune would long outlast its national counterpart. The paper has since its inception supported itself financially through commercial advertising in its print edition. Operating under such a model theoretically allows the paper and its staff to maintain genuine editorial independence from both university authorities and the Students' Union. The Tribune has been recognised on a number of occasions at the national student media awards, particularly in sports writing, of which the paper maintains a strong tradition. In addition to winning Student Newspaper of the Year at the 1996 USI & Irish Independent Media Awards, then editor Conor Lally was also awarded Student Journalist of the Year. 2003 saw Tribune stalwart Peter Lahiff win Diversity Writer of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards, to-date the only Irish based recipient of a Guardian award.

College Tribune sections include news, sport, features, arts, film and entertainment, music, fashion, business, and politics & innovation. These are contained in both the paper proper and its arts culture supplement The Trib. The paper is also noted among students for the launch of  The Evil Gerald, a satirical 'paper within a paper'.

Radio and television

UCD also has a student radio station, Belfield FM, broadcasting throughout the academic year online on the station's website. The station is independently run by the UCD Broadcasting Society and has produced well known Irish radio presenters such as Ryan Tubridy and Rick O'Shea (of RTÉ fame) and Barry Dunne of 98FM.
Belfield FM is the successor to UCD FM, which was operated within the entertainment office of the students' union as a service for students. Initially launched in 1992, the station rebranded in 2000 and has operated since then under the current name. As a result of the implementation of the students' union's new constitution at the beginning of the 2012 / 2013 academic year, the station now operates as a student society.

Historical newspapers
The Student
University Gazette
Confrontation
Campus
UCD News
Student Voice
Gobshout
Catholic University News and Times
Hibernia
Comhthrom Feinne
Comhar

UCD scarf colours

In later years students have been given a scarf of St Patrick's blue, navy and saffron at the President's Welcome Ceremony when they are officially welcomed. These colours have replaced "Faculty" colours and are now worn at graduation also.

Notable people

Presidents
 Denis Coffey, Dean of Medicine (1910–1940)
 Arthur W. Conway (1940–1947)
 Michael Tierney (1947–1964)
 Jeremiah Hogan (1964–1972)
 Thomas Murphy (1972–1985)
 Patrick Masterson (1986–1993)
 Art Cosgrove (1994–2003)
 Hugh R. Brady (2004–2013)
 Andrew J. Deeks (2014–)

Alumni

Former presidents of Ireland 
 Douglas Hyde (faculty)
 Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh 
 Patrick Hillery

Former Taoisigh (Prime Ministers) of Ireland 
 John A. Costello 
 Charles Haughey  
 Garret FitzGerald 
 John Bruton  
 Brian Cowen

Contemporary politicians and current members of Cabinet 
 Richard Bruton 
 Charles Flanagan  
 Eoghan Murphy  
 Denis Naughten
 Cian O'Callaghan
 Katherine Zappone

International affairs 
In International affairs UCD's alumni include:
 Anne Anderson, first female Ambassador of Ireland to the US, UN, EU, France and Monaco
 Catherine Day, former Secretary-General of the European Commission, the first woman to hold the position
 Dermot Gallagher, Secretary-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador of Ireland to the USA
 Mahon Hayes, lawyer, diplomat and the only Irish person to serve on the International Law Commission
 Seán MacBride, one of the founders of Amnesty International and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize. 
 Peter Sutherland, one of the major negotiators in the foundation of the World Trade Organization, and its first Director-General 
 V. V. Giri the fourth President of India 
 Ryan Crocker, a Career Ambassador within the United States Foreign Service, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
 James Dooge (alumnus and faculty), chairman of the "Dooge Report" which led to the Single European Act and the Treaty of Maastricht

Seven of Ireland's former European Commissioners are alumni.

Irish revolutionaries Pádraig Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh, two of the leaders of the Easter Rising and signatories of Proclamation of the Irish Republic were, respectively, a student and member of faculty at the University. As well as former President, Douglas Hyde and Pádraig Pearse, UCD Professor Eóin MacNeill had a key role in the Gaelic revival in Ireland.

Since the foundation of the Irish state in 1922, UCD has produced the most Justices of the Supreme Court of Ireland, the most Chief Justices and the most Attorneys General of Ireland. Alumni Síofra O'Leary is Judge at the European Court of Human Rights and three of the six current Justices of the Supreme Court are UCD alumni.

Healthcare 
In 2008, Tony Holohan was appointed Chief Medical Officer for Ireland.

In 2010, UCD medicine graduate and cardiothoracic surgeon Eilis McGovern was elected 168th President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and thereby became the first female President of any surgical Royal College in the world.

Writers and artists 

Dee Forbes, Director General RTE and Miriam O'Callaghan, presenter of RTÉ's leading current affairs show, Prime Time, are alumni, as are comedians Dermot Morgan (1952–1998) and Dara Ó Briain who were major figures in the University's debating scene for many years.

Sport 
UCD has produced a number of well-known athletes, mainly in the popular Irish field sports of Gaelic games and rugby union. Many played within the University's club sides such as Brian O'Driscoll who played for University College Dublin R.F.C.. The Club has produced numerous British and Irish Lions including O'Driscoll, with several others attending as students. Notable GAA athletes include Rena Buckley, one of the most decorated players in GAA history, having won a total of 17 All-Ireland senior medals; Seán Murphy, a medical school graduate and member of the Gaelic Football Team of the Millennium; and Nicky Rackard, included in the Hurling Team of the Century. Kevin Moran, formerly a Gaelic football but also a soccer player for Manchester United, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1976.

Business 
Alumni involved in business include:
 David J. O'Reilly, formerly CEO and Chairman of the Chevron Corporation
 Lucy Gaffney, Chairperson of Communicorp Group Limited
 Niall FitzGerald, former CEO and Chairman of Unilever 
 Pearse Lyons (1944–2018), founder and President of Alltech 
 Tony O'Reilly, who previously served as the CEO of H. J. Heinz Company as well as owning Independent News & Media
 Denis O'Brien, founder of Digicel
 Andrew Mulvey-Mescall former CEO of Tesco

Amongst the number of humanitarians to attend are John O'Shea founder of GOAL and Tom Arnold the CEO of Concern Worldwide. Former religious figures include Cardinals Tomás Ó Fiaich and Desmond Connell as well as the founding rector Cardinal Newman.

Former faculty include Dennis Jennings of the School of Computing, considered to be an Internet pioneer for his leadership of NSFNET, the network that became the Internet backbone. Other notable faculty include Patrick Lynch, logician and philosopher Jan Łukasiewicz, and Professor of Science and Society James Heckman who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2000.

UCD in popular culture

In literature 
James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is partially set in UCD (when it was sited on Earlsfort Terrace) where Stephen Dedalus (now the name of the IT building) is enrolled as a student. Joyce's posthumously-published autobiographical novel Stephen Hero contains stories of his time in UCD. Flann O'Brien's novel At Swim-Two-Birds features a UCD student who writes a meta-novel wherein the author is put on trial by the characters of his novel. Maeve Binchy's novel, Circle of Friends, deals with three female friends starting college in UCD in the 1950s. However, shots of Trinity College were used in the 1995 film. The second Ross O'Carroll-Kelly novel, The Teenage Dirtbag Years, follows Ross as he enters UCD.

In music 
Christy Moore wrote a tongue in cheek song about UCD's Literary and Historical Society called "The Auditor of the L and H". Johnny Jurex & The Punk Pistols, predecessors to Rocky De Valera & The Gravediggers had a song called "Anarchy in Belfield" which they played at their only gig during Rag Week in 1976.

In film and television 
Conor McPherson's third film Saltwater was filmed in Belfield, UCD. In Boston Legal, Season 2, Episode 21 "Word Salad Day", there is a reference to a study from UCD that "found that the effects of divorce on children are far more damaging than the death of a parent" although it is not clear whether this is University College Dublin or University of California, Davis.