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All graduands will receive a link to register for one ticket and 2 guest tickets via email in the coming weeks. Registration is completed through the University Concert Hall's 3rd party ticketing system. Requests for additional tickets will only be facilitated by UCH on the day of the ceremony.
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
The Foundation Building, which incorporates the University Concert Hall, has international-standard access facilities for people with disabilities. Additional facilities include wheelchair positions with adjacent companion seat in the Auditorium.
If you have any questions about accessibility for you or your guests, please get in touch with us at ceremonies@ul.ie
UCH is fully accessible. (see UCH Accessibility)
For graduands, please let us know of any issues you may have accessing the stage to receive your parchment and we can help.
Please email ceremonies@ul.ie in advance of the ceremony so that we can provide you with the services you require.
Please let us know if you have any special requirements in advance of the ceremony so we are fully equipped to accommodate you on the day. Please email ceremonies@ul.ie
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Prior to the Ceremony
Due to the large number of people involved in the graduation ceremonies, it is important that you arrive on time. Once you are robed , you should enter the Foundation Building by the Concert Hall car park entrance (see campus map for details). You are requested to be robed and present by 10h00 for the morning ceremony or 14h00 for the afternoon ceremony at the latest in the foyer of the Foundation Building (lower ground floor) outside Lecture Theatre FB028. Late arrivals will be conferred in absentia.
We recommend that graduands do not take phones, cameras or bags with them to the ceremony.
Members of staff will organise you and your fellow graduands in the correct order, for seating during the ceremony and for receipt of parchments.
PLEASE NOTE THE UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK IS A NON-SMOKING CAMPUS.
Health and Safety Notes
Upon entering the University Concert Hall, please familiarise yourself with the nearest exit. In the unlikely event of an evacuation being necessary, bear in mind that there are exits from the stage in addition to the visible exits in the auditorium itself. You must exit from the building and not just from the auditorium to the atrium.
Should you require medical attention, qualified and approved medical personnel are on duty throughout the Ceremony.
Finally, before entering the University Concert Hall, please switch off your mobile phone.
Order of Proceedings
- Academic procession
- The President convenes a meeting of the University for the purpose of conferring academic awards.
- The Provost and Deputy President presides over the ceremony.
- The Dean delivers a welcome address.
- The Dean presents the graduands.
- The graduands are called to receive their awards.
- The President confers the awards.
- The President delivers a conferring address.
- The academic procession and new graduates retire
During the Ceremony
Following the Dean's welcoming address, you and your fellow graduands will be guided from your seats by staff to line up near the stage area.
When your name is called, you should approach the stage to receive your parchment. After you have collected your parchment, you should descend the stage and return to your seat. Your cooperation with staff during this process will be much appreciated.
If you do not attend the ceremony, your award will be conferred in absentia, your name will still be called out on the day and your parchment will be posted to your registered address with Academic Registry (please ensure that this is updated with Academic Registry in advance).
After the Ceremony
When the ceremony has concluded, recessional music commences and everybody stands. The President and members of Governing Authority don their caps. The Mace Bearer removes the mace from its pedestal and leads the platform party from the stage, which is followed by the academic procession and the new graduates of the University. The academic procession exits the University Concert Hall using the same route as when entering. Again, University staff will provide guidance.
Led by the Mace Bearer, the academic procession proceeds to the Foundation Building Atrium. You are requested to continue in procession until you arrive at the reception.
Congratulations on the successful completion of your doctoral studies at the University of Limerick. Doctoral conferrings at UL differ from other such conferrings in the country. You will receive written confirmation outlining details of your rehearsal, and you must confirm your intention to attend. On the day of graduation, you must present yourself for a dress rehearsal prior to your conferring. This is compulsory. You must wear your robes at the rehearsal.
The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 recognises Irish Sign Language (ISL) as an official language of the Irish State and places a “duty on all public bodies to provide Irish Sign Language users with free interpretation when availing of or seeking to access statutory entitlements and services”.
A sign language interpreter will be present on the day of all graduation ceremonies.
Before you are permitted to graduate, you must have paid all fees and library fines and returned all books and property to the University a month before you graduate, i.e. in July if you are graduating in August, in December if you are graduating in January and in May if you are graduating in June.
It is UL policy that students with an outstanding balance owing will not receive their parchment on the day of their graduation.
The official photographers for the conferring ceremonies will be located in EG-010 after each ceremony has taken place.
The official photographer is Michael Martin - (061) 418205 | info@michaelmartinphotography.ie | www.michaelmartinphotography.ie
The standard package costs €45. The package comprises:
- One 10x8 print on UL-embossed mount
- Two 5x4 prints of the same photograph
Extra prints and frames are also available.
If you have any problem or query relating to graduation photography, please contact Ceremonies Office (Ceremonies@ul.ie) or at 061 202118.
Unofficial photographers try to ply a trade in the grounds and car parks of the University on conferring day. In the past, graduates have complained of non-delivery and poor quality of photos from these photographers. The University accepts no responsibility for arrangements made by graduates with unofficial photographers. Graduates are strongly advised to deal only with the official photographers.
Parchment Framing will be available to all students after each ceremony. The service will operate in EGO-10 (Ground Floor of the Main Building).
Light refreshments will be provided in the Atrium (outside the University Concert Hall) after each Ceremony.
As an tSionainn (for trumpet and organ)
Winner of an international composition competition to find new music to be performed at University of Limerick conferring ceremonies, As an tSionainn was composed by the young American composer Michael Merrill. Celebratory in nature, As an tSionainn draws inspiration from the University’s geographical location on the banks of the River Shannon. The composition received its world premiere at the University of Limerick Autumn 2019 conferring ceremonies.
The composer Michael Merrill began studying music as a child, performing in bands and choirs in school, church and community organisations in Albany, Oregon. He started composing at about twelve years of age, sitting at the piano, trying to play various tunes by ear and experimenting with different patterns. He earned a Bachelor of Musical Arts in Composition from Brigham Young University (Idaho) and a Masters in Music from the University of Aberdeen, where he studied under Royal Composer Paul Mealor. Merrill is currently in the final stages of his PhD studies in composition at Aberdeen, studying under Dr Phillip Cooke.
Michael writes: “When I was composing As an tSionainn I had never been to the River Shannon. However, whilst researching the area I immediately felt a familiarity with it as it closely resembles my own homeland, the Willamette River Valley in Oregon, USA. The gentle hills and lush greenery are represented in As an tSionainn by a repeated motif of musical triads undulating up and down, accompanied by long lines of melody. Echoes of the song Where the River Shannon Flows are sprinkled throughout the piece, and two of the processionals are actually written in the form of musical limericks.”
As an tSionainn is in four sections:
Processional 1 – Entrance of Graduands
Processional 2 – Entrance of Academics
Processional 3 – Entrance of President and Chancellor
Recessional – Exit and End of Ceremony
Professor Mel Mercier, Chair of Performing Arts, University of Limerick
January 2020
The visitor centre located in courtyard of UL has many graduation gifts available or you can shop online on the Visitor Centre website.
Registration - Seanad Éireann
"[E]very person who is a citizen of Ireland and has received a degree (other than an honorary degree) in the National University of Ireland, and has attained the age of 18 years, shall be entitled to be registered as an elector in the register of electors for the National University constituency" (Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act, 1937 s.7(1)).
To be eligible to vote in the Seanad Election (NUI Constituency), a graduate's name must be on the NUI Seanad Éireann Register of Electors. A graduate may request a Registration Claim Form at any time from the NUI Office, or download one from www.nui.ie/elections/seanad-register.asp#reg1.
NUI Graduates (who are otherwise eligible) who return completed Registration Claim Forms to the NUI Office by 26 February in any given year will be listed in the NUI Seanad Éireann Register to be published on 1st June of that year.