In amazing news, the Leaving Certificate ancient Greek and Latin specifications will come on stream in September 2025! Congratulations to everyone who worked tirelessly to create these wonderful and accessible specifications. The future of the Classical languages is looking bright!
An announcement from our Classics colleagues in Maynooth University:
Save the date! Careers with Classics 2024
Maynooth University, 18 September 2024 11am
Join us in person, Maynooth Campus Callan Building Room CB8 (North Campus) or on Teams (link below).
Why study Classics in 2024?
The Department of Ancient Classics and Careers and Employability Service at Maynooth University are delighted to announce the fourth Careers with Classics event. Join a panel of Maynooth graduates and international speakers as they share their experience with the world of Classics at third level and career path into the professional world.
This event is designed for current secondary school pupils, particularly those in their final year as they prepare for Leaving Certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate students of Classics at all Irish third level institutions, teachers, and guidance counsellors.
Fifth and sixth year classes especially welcome to join us in person or online!
If planning to attend the event in person with a class or group, we kindly ask you to let us know as soon as possible. The event will be conducted in a hybrid format, in presence for those who choose to do so (venue: Maynooth University north campus, Callan Building, Room CB8), and online via Microsoft Teams (link below):
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Meeting ID: 394 914 496 817
Passcode: yzkkf8
Dial in by phone
+353 1 566 2037,,312076739# Ireland, Dublin
Phone conference ID: 312 076 739#
There is great excitement in the Access Classics camp as we launch the 2nd edition of our Transition Year Unit! First launched in 2020, we have been delighted with the response to the Unit from teachers and students over the past four years and are very excited to share the 2nd edition with everyone. Containing both old favourite and lots of new ideas for lessons and activities, there is something here to engage all students. Head over to the “Classics Transition Year Unit” tab to get your copy of the free, downloadable Teachers’ Manual and PowerPoint!
Whether just dipping in and out or using the complete Unit, we are on hand to help with any questions or feedback – simply email either bridget.martin@ucd.ie or access.classics@ucd.ie.
Would you like to know more about Achaemenid Persia!? Well, we have just the thing for you! Access Classics’ Dr Christopher Farrell joins Noiser’s “A Short History” podcast series to talk about all things Persian. Click on the image above or listen wherever you get your podcasts!
The Classical Association of Ireland Teachers (CAIT) Young Classicist Awards, 2024 are now open for entries (deadline: 15 April)! The Young Classicist Awards is an innovative competition open to all second-level students in Ireland who are interested in Classics. Students (either as individuals or as part of a group) are encouraged to present a project on any aspect of Classics, including Ancient Greek and Latin, and to be as innovative in their approach as possible! Past projects have included videos, PowerPoints, creative writing, crafts (such as posters or paintings), performances (such as singing or recitation), Minecraft and diary entries! For some inspiration, you can check out previous winning entries here.
Check out the poster above for the rules of this year’s competition and for information on the Awards Ceremony, which will take place in University College Dublin on 30 April. Good luck, everyone!
The UCD Classical Society, in conjunction with the UCD School of Classics, is proud to announce that the annual Inaugural Lecture this year will be given by historian and novelist Dr Adrian Goldsworthy! Check out Dr Goldsworthy’s website for an overview of his extensive fiction and non-fiction books! Everyone is welcome, and you can register here (registering will help with planning the reception!).
The details of this year’s lecture are as follows:
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy
“Parthians, Persians and Romans: Empires, War, Cold War and Co-Existence in the Ancient World“
11 April 2024, 7 pm
Location: UCD Village Auditorium (map here)
Reception to follow
All welcome!
The Classical Association of Ireland is delighted to announce the 2024 Latin Summer school, an exciting opportunity to learn Latin through a two-week immersion.
The Latin Summer School is designed for secondary school students between the ages of 12 and 18, with little or no knowledge of Latin and/or Classics.
If you are not studying Latin or Classics, but you are interested in ancient languages and history, this is the place for you! Whether you are studying Classical Studies or the new Junior Certificate Classics or not, the Summer School offers an exciting opportunity to explore the culture of the Romans through their language. Perhaps you want to improve your language learning skills or understanding, communicating and writing in English? Or you are exploring your academic future? If you are you thinking about studying Classical Civilisation, Archaeology, Classical Languages, Ancient or Medieval History, Philosophy, Religion, History of Art, Romance languages in college, the CAI Summer school is a great place to start!
Over the course of two weeks (17-28 June), you will immerse yourself in the language and history of Rome and engage in a variety of fun activities, led by experienced and passionate teachers. There will be interactive and online games, singing contests, Latin cartoons, and a bit of spoken Latin, too!
The Latin Summer School offers courses at Beginners level for students who have not studied Latin before. Each course has three 50-minute classes per day. All resources and learning materials are provided. After two weeks, students will be able to read simple Latin texts and have sufficient knowledge of the language to continue studying it independently or enter a higher-level course.
The Summer School will be conducted in a hybrid format this year, i.e. in presence for those who choose to do so (venue: Trinity College Dublin), and online via Zoom.
If you missed the wonderful Careers with Classics events run by our colleagues in Maynooth University in September, worry not! You can see a full recording of the event on YouTube (below). It’s very inspiring to hear the diverse careers people have undertaken with a Classics degree! Where will Classics take you!?
Prepare to be blown away by the series of evening events in the UCD Classical Museum celebrating the Arts! From storytelling to art, music and poetry, Muses @ UCD has something for everyone! Click on the image above to see the great range of evening events (7.30 -9 pm) taking place over October and November. All events are free, but booking is essential (contact Sasha Smith at sasha.smith@ucd.ie for more information or to book your place, citing which evening/s you would like to attend). We can’t wait to come along and meet the ridiculously talented event leaders and to see the Classical Museum in its evening and nighttime glory!
These events are made possible by the kind support of the Night Time Economy Unit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (After Hours at the Museum Scheme).
Are you a budding composer? Would you like to hear your own original music performed live in the National Concert Hall!? Are you a TY, 5th or 6th year student resident on the island of Ireland? If so, our colleagues in the UCD School of Music and the UCD Composition Ensemble have some exciting news for you!!
Send your original music to the UCD Composition Ensemble, and the Ensemble will perform the winning entry in the National Concert Hall (in addition to €500 prize money)! Full details of the competition can be found here, or you can email composition@ucd.ie with any queries. Good luck, everyone, and maybe the ancient world can offer some inspiration!?
Access Classics 