Tributes to 'renowned academic' and 'true gentleman' Professor Dermot Keogh
A former journalist with the Irish Press, Prof Keogh was a scholar of 20th century Ireland, including Irish diplomatic and political history, church-state relations, and international relations, and had a very keen interest in human rights, refugee rights, the labour movement, and Argentina’s history, culture, and people.
The President has paid a personal tribute to the respected historian, Emeritus Professor Dermot Keogh, whose death was announced on Thursday.
Michael D Higgins described Prof Keogh as one of Ireland’s finest historians, who in particular brought a valuable insight into the history of Ireland’s connection with South America.
“Last year, Dermot called to Áras an Uachtaráin to present me with a copy of his book ” he said.
“I also recall very clearly his work on El Salvador and the revolt of the colonels in 1979.
“Among his other most valuable contributions was his publications on Irish diplomatic relations with the Vatican, his time as editor of foreign policy archives for the RIA, and his important work on Jews in 20th century Ireland.
“Dermot Keogh will be missed by all those who he taught at University College Cork, as well as all those whose strong scholarship in UCC on South American issues owes much to his personal research interests.
“May I extend my condolences to his wife Ann, to his children Eoin, Niall, Aoife and Clare, and to all his family, friends and colleagues.”
Prof Keogh, who taught in UCC’s department of history between 1980 and 2010, was Jean Monnet Professor in the department between 1990 and 1996, was professor of history from 1997 and served as head of department between 2002 and 2009, died peacefully at home in Cork city on Wednesday following an illness. He was 78.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, the historian Cllr Kieran McCarthy, said he was deeply saddened to learn of his death.
“Dermot Keogh who was deeply respected in UCC, Cork, nationally and internationally for his understanding and analysis of modern Irish history, the role of the church and State and of our international relations particularly with Europe and the European Union,” he said.
“Not only was he a renowned academic but he was a true gentleman who deeply believed in equality, solidarity and human rights.
“He was a man who strived to improve the lot of others.”
The President of UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, also paid tribute.
“Dermot made a huge contribution to our understanding of 20th century Ireland,” he said.
“He was part of the fabric of UCC for many years and will be deeply missed here. We extend our sympathies to his wife Ann and all the family.”
Dr Hiram Morgan, the head of UCC’s school of history, said Prof Keogh was “a generous, affable and genuinely humane individual” who will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
“Dermot a distinguished and prolific historian of many aspects of Ireland in the 20th century - labour history, the Irish Jewish community, Irish diplomatic history, Irish connections with Latin America especially Argentina and Irish political and constitutional history including a biography of Jack Lynch,” he said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who studied history in UCC under Prof Keogh, who also supervised his master, was among the first to lead the tributes earlier.
“He was a great friend and a mentor, and a prolific writer with strong ethics in terms of his analysis of history and politics, particularly on the church and state issue and on the Irish constitution, among others,” he said.
Prof Keogh was a scholar of 20th century Ireland, including Irish diplomatic history, Irish political history, Church-state relations, and international relations, and had a very keen interest in human rights, refugee rights and the labour movement.
He also played a key role in shaping Cork’s future through his involvement in the local government review process established by former Local Government Minister Alan Kelly almost a decade ago.
He was part of a five-person committee which issued a report in September 2015 recommending a merger of Cork city and county council, a recommendation which split the committee.
But Prof Keogh and fellow UCC academic, Dr Theresa Reidy, issued a minority report which recommended a city boundary extension.
The split triggered an independent review which later saw the dual-local authority, boundary extension stance adopted by Prof Keogh and Dr Reidy emerging as the recommended way foward.
In 2017, Prof Keogh told the that repeated failures to extend the city’s boundary over the last 50 years had hurt the region’s economic development.
“Without delay, the Government should extend the Cork city boundary and allow the city to take the full economic leadership role it has long been denied,” he said.
The city boundary extension, the first since 1965, took legal effect in 2019.
Throughout the course of his academic career, he was presented with a host of honours, including two Fulbright awards — one for study at Boston College in 2002 — and fellowships in the United States, Ireland and across Europe.
The author of ten monographs, including the prize-winning Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland in 2008, he co-edited 20 books and was twice a Woodrow Wilson fellow.
He was a frequent co-editor and contributor to dozens of books and scholarly journals as well as TV history programs, and he presented papers at conferences across Europe, in the US and in Argentina, a country for which he held a deep affection.
Prof Keogh is survived by his wife Ann, their children, Eoin, Niall, Aoife and Clare, and his nine grandchildren, Abi, Luke, David, Aisling, Darragh, Clodagh, Anna-Amy, Mani and Olan. He was a father-in-law to Caroline, Liz, Marco and Barry.
His funeral Mass will be celebrated in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at The Lough at 10am on Saturday. It will be streamed online.
