RITE AND REASON:In 1904 an Englishman came to University College Cork and set about ensuring it was no longer a "godless" college, writes DERMOT KEOGH
DESPITE MISGIVINGS about the details of the settlement of the Irish universities’ question in 1908, Irish Catholic bishops – led most ably by Archbishop William Walsh of Dublin – set about working the new National University of Ireland (NUI) federal structure. It incorporated University College Dublin, University College Cork and University College Galway.
Archbishop Walsh became the first chancellor of the NUI. Bertram Windle was another architect of the NUI and became president of UCC. He was born in England and educated as a medical doctor at Trinity College Dublin. He converted to Catholicism in the 1880s in Birmingham, where he worked as a professor of anatomy and later as dean of the medical faculty.
The Chief Secretary to Ireland, George Windham, encouraged Windle to take the presidency of the college in Cork in 1904.
His patron resigned in March 1905, and deprived of a political advocate, Windle soldiered on in Irish third-level education until 1919. In 1908 he believed Archbishop Walsh was an “unrelenting enemy of mine . . . because I happen to have been educated at TC (Trinity College) and born a Protestant”.
Two years before his death in 1929, he wrote that the NUI, “I suppose, is the most utterly detestable thing that man ever had to do with”.
Windle used his time in UCC to modernise the college, double the size of the buildings, triple its number of students and bring in bequests to the value of £100,000. A university reformer, Windle also held the professorship of anatomy at UCC. He founded and held the chair of archaeology, taught English and was published widely.
With the support of the Isabella Honan bequest, Windle built the Honan hostel for Catholic male students, showing that despite being a non- denominational institution, NUI colleges could cater for all religions. The Honan chapel was opened in November 1916.
In debate with Canon J W Tristram in 1913, Windle refuted charges that he had been one-sided, and pointed out “a religious service, also held in a city church . . . is conducted for the benefit of those who do not profess the faith of the majority in this district, and that it is also . . . well attended by the professors and students”.
Pope Pius X made Windle a Knight of St Gregory in 1909 in recognition of his zeal for Catholic truth and his labours for the higher education of Catholic youth. On March 6th, 1912, Windle was knighted for his role in the world of learning.
An empire nationalist, he viewed with dismay the rise of Edward Carson and the British government’s betrayal of John Redmond. Windle condemned the 1916 Rising and supported the execution of its leaders.
He was a delegate to the Irish Convention, the last hurrah of British imperialism prior to the decisive 1918 general election.
He led an unsuccessful campaign in 1918-1919 to gain autonomy for UCC, and decided to leave Ireland, disgusted by the rise of Sinn Féin both in the country and within UCC. He felt his faith was endangered by the irresponsible role of the bishops.
On November 17th, 1919, he wrote in his diary: “So Ends Cork! 15 yrs hard work – spoilt by base intrigues and certainly some of the basest people I ever met.”
He left for England, sailing for Canada to take up a position as a visiting professor at St Michael’s College, University of Toronto. He died in Toronto in 1929.
Dr Dermot Keogh is retired professor of history at UCC. Cork University Press recently published Bertram Windle, the Honan Bequest and the Modernisation of UCC, 1904-19, by Dermot and Ann Keogh.