University of Galway, spread across 259 acres, has a total of ninety buildings, some named after people who still linger in anonymity. From the O’Donoghue centre to the Martin Ryan institute, the Hardiman library, or the Alice Perry building, mysterious names haunt our campus, but who are all these people?
University of Galway’s policies on the naming of buildings state that “a naming may be bestowed in honour of an individual person, living or deceased, in recognition of their dedication or meritorious service to the University, to scholarship or to society, or in response to philanthropic benefaction”, and that the individuals chosen must not by association, tarnish the university’s reputation and values. However, wandering around campus, one might wonder if those ideals have been upheld.
Entering university south, after a pint in Sult, you might stumble into the Bailey Allen Hall, iconic venue for conferences, graduations, exams, and even SIN meetings! On your way to one of those you might ask yourself who this mysterious Bailey Allen is. Looking on the internet, you will find descriptions of a reporter from New England Connect, or a certain Ida Bailey Allen, American chef and author baptized “the original domestic Goddess”. The truth is: Bailey Allen is neither the perfect housewife nor an obscure journalist, it’s not even one individual! Bailey Allen is an homage to two people: Frank J. Bailey and her mother Angela Allen. Frank was an Art Student in University of Galway who graduated in 1962 before tragically dying in a car accident in 1971. Her mother, Angela, requested for the memory of her son to be honoured in this wing, giving it both their names. Now as touching as the story of poor Frank is, his memorial was not just instigated for the sake of remembrance, but was also generously encouraged by Angela. Indeed, as much as empathy is a very respectable trait, good intentions don’t build anything, money does. And so the Bailey Allen hall was born.
As you leave the building, if you follow the cool drama kids down the left, you will enter the O Donoghue centre. And once again, as much as the life behind the name is pretty inspiring, the first thing that comes up when you look up Dr Donagh O Donoghue (1944-2021), before his double bachelor degree and contribution to the art scene, is ‘businessman’. A little further down: the marine biology building. Martin Ryan? A generous donor to research, yes, but yet again only a politician.
Are any of those names actually deserving of credit?
Let’s go North this time, past the human biology building, on the left: the James Hardiman Library. In this case the name seems quite legitimate. James Hardiman (1782-1855) was the first ever librarian in the former Queen’s college (now University of Galway). A historian, antiquarian, solicitor, and a writer, he was a pillar in Irish cultural preservation, as an active member of the Irish Royal Academy. The Cairnes building? Named after John Elliott Cairnes (1823-1875) one of the earliest academics of University of Galway, remembered as one of the
last classic economists. Another good name, isn’t it? Well…when it comes to tarnishing reputations, Cairnes’ studies of slavery is only based on its profits and economic structure, withholding every ounce of humanity in his judgement.
A bunch of inspiring people, aren’t they? Right…couldn’t we do better? In history, Galway has been home to some of the greatest minds, such as George Johnstone Stoney (1826-1911), physicist and professor of natural philosophy at Queen’s College from 1852 to 1857. Stoney introduced the term electron, officially naming the unit of electrical charge, yet nothing is named after him in Galway city. Not a building. Not a street. Nothing. Not a single reminder of his work in the city in which he taught, only his distant memory. Is naming one of the most important notions of physics not enough? What makes George less memorable than Donagh or Frank? Couldn’t he pay his way into shiny letters on stone?
Challenging this naming process also brings up another very obvious disparity: gender bias. A bunch of inspiring people…Yes, but inspiring men. Not very inclusive, is it? Out of all buildings on campus, only one is named after a woman: Alice Perry (1885-1969), engineer, poet, and the first woman to receive a degree in engineering in either Ireland or the UK. Despite an absence of female donors, financially depending on their husbands, University of Galway does have a rich history of impactful female figures, highlighted in 2017 during the Path Breaking women exhibition, with 12 names brought back into lights: Ada English, Síle Ní Chinnéide, Lorna Reynolds, Máirin de Valéra, Maureen O’Carroll, Mary Donovan O’Sullivan, Margaret Heavey, Nora Niland, Emily Anderson, Celia Lynch, and Caitlín Maude.
And as insignificant as it seems, choosing to remember those names has an impact, and crediting the right people is essential to an accurate vision of the past and a better portrayal of our university.
Because this is our campus. Because it is our role to rewrite history.
To learn more about the path-breaking women exhibition, see: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/pathbreakingwomen
