UCC Philosophical Society

Debating society at University College Cork, Ireland

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UCC Philosophical Society

Formation| 1850
Type| Student society

Parent organization

| University College Cork

The UCC Philosophical Society, also known as the 'Philosoph',[1] is the largest debating society at University College Cork, Ireland. The Philosoph was founded in 1850, making it the oldest society at UCC.[2] The society carries out a number of functions, including weekly debates with guest speakers, participating in debating competitions, running workshops for the students of UCC to develop their public speaking skills and running debating competitions and workshops for schoolchildren (including the Denny Schools Debating Competition). In the 1960s, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Seán MacBride described the Philosoph as "the centre of independent thought in Ireland".[3] House meetings of the society are held every Monday evening during UCC's term time.[4]

UCC Quadrangle

## Former members

[edit]

Seán Ó Riada was a former auditor of the society,[5] and former presidents include Charles Haughey.[citation needed] Other former members include professor Kieran Healy of the University of Arizona.[citation needed] Journalist Brendan O' Connor was a former recording secretary.[citation needed]

## Competitions

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In addition to running internal debating competitions, the society funds and supports members in attending competitions elsewhere in Ireland and internationally.[citation needed] Intervarsity competitions in Ireland and the UK, in which the society participates, have included the UCD Vice-President's Cup, the Oxford Union and Cambridge Union Intervarsities and the National Law Debates in Galway.[citation needed] The society has also previously entered the John Smith Memorial Mace and the Irish Times competition.[citation needed]

Internationally, the society participates in the World Universities Debating Competition and the European Universities Debating Competition, and has had some success in international debating. For example, two UCC debaters members won the World University Debating Championship at Fordham University in 1986.[6]

The society also hosts competitions, and for example, was the venue for the World University Debating Championships in 1996 and in 2009.[7] The 2009 event was jointly hosted by UCC's Law Society and Philosophical Society.[8]

The Philosoph also hosts its own Inter-Varsity each December and previously hosted the Cork Invitational Intervarsity (IV).[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

* College Historical Society (Trinity College, Dublin)
* University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin)
* Literary and Historical Society, University College Dublin
* Literary and Debating Society (NUI Galway)
* Literary and Debating Society (Maynooth University)
* Law Society, University College Dublin

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Galloway takes legal advice over 'attack' at UCC debate". Irish Examiner. 8 November 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2024. "Galloway returned to England yesterday morning without contacting the [UCC] Philosophical Society (Philosoph)"
2. ^ "Maume's History - UCC Philosophical Society". uccphilosoph.com. Retrieved 7 April 2015.[unreliable source?]
3. ^ "Getting To Grips With The Bigger Questions". Irish Examiner. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
4. ^ "House Meetings - UCC Philosophical Society". uccphilosoph.com. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
5. ^ "UCC Philosophical Society". seamus dubhghaill. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
6. ^ O'Brien, Carl (18 February 2020). "Wit and warmth: The secret weapons of Irish debaters The first Irish Times Debate took place 60 years ago. Former student debaters look back". Irish Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
7. ^ "Students show off the gift of the gab". Irish Examiner. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
8. ^ "Cork for second hosting of world debate event". Irish Examiner. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* UCC Philosophical Society website (archived 2022)

* v
* t
* e

University debating

Competitions|

* Asian Championship
* Australasian Championship
* Irish Times Debate
* North American Championship
* US Universities Debating Championship
* World Championship
* World Championship in Spanish
* HWS Round Robin

Styles|

* American Parliamentary
* Australasian
* Brazilian Parliamentary
* British Parliamentary
* Canadian Parliamentary
* Model United Nations

Organisations|

* American Debate Association
* Mexican Debate Association
* American Parliamentary Debate Association
* Cross Examination Debate Association
* Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate
* English-Speaking Union
* International Public Debate Association
* National Debate Federation Bangladesh
* National Debate Tournament
* National Educational Debate Association
* National Parliamentary Debate Association

University
Societies|

| United
States|

* Bates
* Brooks Quimby Debate Council
* Brown
* Boston
* Columbia
* Peithologian
* Philolexian
* Cornell
* The Irving
* Emory
* Fordham
* Georgetown
* Georgia
* Georgia Lit
* Penn
* Penn Debate Society
* Pitt
* Princeton
* Rutgers
* UNC
* USC
* University of Rochester- URDU
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Jefferson
* Washington
* Yale
* Calliopean
* Linonia
* Yale Debate Association
* Yale Political Union

|

United
Kingdom|

* Belfast
* Cambridge
* Durham
* Glasgow
* Dialectic Society
* GUU
* Manchester
* Oxford
* St Andrews
* York

Ireland|

* UCC Philosoph
* Galway Lit&Deb
* TCD-Hist
* TCD-Phil
* UCD-L&H
* UCD-LawSoc

Australia|

* Queensland
* USU

New Zealand|

* Otago

Canada|

* Western
* Ottawa
* Queen's

Germany|

* Stuttgart

France|

* Conférence Olivaint

South
Africa|

* University of KwaZulu-Natal

Notable university debates|

* King and Country debate (1933)
* Baldwin–Buckley debate (1965)
* A Question of Europe (1975)
* Shashi Tharoor's Oxford Union speech (2015)

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