Conferring Ceremony FAQs

Please log a call with Information Technology Division (ITD). All students have access to their student email account for three months after their graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they maintain access to their student email account.

All eligible students will receive a detailed email with all information required regarding conferring ceremony times, location, gowning, photography, etc.

You are required to confirm your attendance or non-attendance via the University Concert Hall (UCH) online registration link, which will be sent to you by email from ceremonies@ul.ie to your UL student email account. Students who choose not to attend will be conferred in absentia and must complete the in absentia form. All graduands, i.e. students due to graduate at a specific ceremony, will be sent details about their graduation ceremony to their UL student email and listed personal email accounts from ceremonies@ul.ie. 

If you have any difficulty accessing your UL student email account please contact ITD via their TopDesk facility.

If you do not register for your graduation via the link provided before the stated deadline, you will not be allowed to attend your graduation ceremony and will be conferred in absentia.

When you arrive on the UL campus on the day of your conferring ceremony, you should proceed directly to EG-0 10 (on the ground floor of the main building) to collect your academic robes from Phelan Conan. You must then proceed to the basement of the Foundation Building to register and to be lined up in alphabetical order for your ceremony.

As this is a time-consuming process, we require all students to be in the basement in advance of their ceremony start time (i.e. 10:00 for morning ceremony, 14:00 for afternoon ceremony). If you arrive after this time, you may be denied access to the ceremony and will be conferred in absentia.

Unfortunately, the Ceremonies Office does not have the authority to issue these letters – you can contact Academic Registry who may be able to provide you with a letter to assist your visa application.

You can contact them through the Topdesk service here: Topdesk

Nobody else can accept your parchment for you. You must either attend the ceremony or be conferred in absentia.

If you do not attend your ceremony, a hard copy of your parchment will be posted to your registered postal address held by Academic Registry. However, we highly recommend that you complete the In-Absentia form to update your current postal address.

Please note: Any students graduating In-Absentia, will not have their names read out during the ceremony. 

It is important that you check your postal address recorded with Academic Registry for accuracy and update it, if necessary, before graduation. See instructions to update your personal details on Student Portal.

Each graduand is eligible to receive one personal ticket and two guest tickets for their ceremony.  Requests for additional tickets, if available, can be processed only on the day of your ceremony at the UCH box office. These are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

There will be no waiting list for extra tickets.

Children are allowed to attend the conferring ceremony but must have their own ticket and be accompanied by an adult.

Robes are available to book from Phelan Conan via an online link sent to all graduands. Read here for further details.

All graduands must pre-book robes with UL official robe-providers Phelan Conan Limited before midnight day month 2024. Robes may be pre-booked online at www.phelanconan.com. The pre-paid hire fee is €43 or the pay-on-the-day hire fee is €45.

NameCoach is a tool that allows you to record your name prior to your conferring ceremony. Doing this ensures your name is pronounced correctly by the name caller as you collect your parchment on the stage.

An email is issued to all registered graduands inviting them to record their name on NameCoach.

UL’s official commercial photographer is Michael Martin Photography. See the Professional Photographers section of the Information for Graduands webpage for details.

Once the ceremony commences, it will take between 60 and 90 minutes. 

Therefore, we recommend graduands and their guests bring a bottle of water with them on the day.

PhD graduands are permitted to defer graduation once. Graduation can be deferred to the next conferring session only. 

Unfortunately, non-PhD graduands cannot defer their graduation.

• Have you paid all fees?
• Have you cleared all debts to the University (including outstanding library fines) and returned all books to the library?
• You must do so by May to be eligible to graduate in June.
• You must do so by July to be eligible to graduate in August.
• You must do so by December to be eligible to graduate in January. 

Your official parchment will be withheld by the Fees Office if you have any outstanding fees. Please note that you will receive a blank parchment at your graduation ceremony.

Please contact student.fees.office@ul.ie to clear any outstanding fees you may have. 

Your parchment will be presented to you at your graduation ceremony.  

Academic Registry will send you an email with a link through which you can access a digital copy of your parchment following your graduation ceremony.  

If you do not attend your ceremony, a hard copy of your parchment will be posted to your registered postal address held by Academic Registry. To confirm your preferred postal address, you are required to complete your SI record via this Topdesk link in Academic Registry.

Attending graduands and guests will have access to free car parking on campus on graduation day.

Yes. Light refreshments for all graduates and guests will be provided on the day after the ceremony.

Yes. Parchment framing will be available to all graduates on the day. The service will operate in EG-0-10 (Ground Floor of the Main Building).

University of Limerick conferring ceremonies are formal occasions. Graduands, staff and guests are required to dress accordingly.

• Men should wear a smart suit, shirt and tie and plain black/brown shoes (no boots or runners). 
  Jackets should be buttoned when on stage.
• Women should wear a smart dress or suit (skirt and jacket or trouser suit).
• International Graduands
  Wearing traditional clothing from your country to celebrate your cultural heritage at your conferring ceremony is acceptable. Please ensure that your traditional clothing is appropriate attire for a formal academic event.