News & Events

The role of the church in a pluralist society is a narrative that is being written by many people at many different levels of the church. In this context on Friday 31 January, Prof Graham Ward, Regis Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford will deliver the inaugural Loyola Institute lecture. This will be followed by the launch of the book The Church in Pluralist Society: Social and Political Roles, by Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean. Contributors to the book include: J. Bryan Hehir, Terry Eagleton, Patrick J. Deneen, Hans Joas, William T. Cavanaugh, Massimo Faggioli, Fáinche Ryan, Patrick Riordan, and Cornelius Casey. 6–8pm at Regent House, Front Arch, TCD, and admission is free.

‘The Call of Literature: Theology, Philosophy and Literature in Conversation’. The sixth Power of the Word Conference will explore aspects of the ‘call of literature’, for authors and audiences alike. The conference will take place here in the Loyola Institute, Trinity College, Dublin. For more information follow the attached link.

Prof. Cornelius Casey (Loyola Institute), addressed the subject of Hope in our Loyola Lecture on Weds 20th November. ”Optimism is not enough in a time of need. Optimism shatters easily enough in dire need; on a personal level, (’will it turn out well for me?’) or concerning our human Planet, (how will it turn out for us?). Hope is different, deeper, tougher, more persistent. In Christian terms it is a foundational virtue, - faith, hope, love. ’The faith I love the best, says God, is hope’. (Charles Peguy) . Can hope be learned, cultivated? Can we be schooled in hope? How is it practised in this time of need?“ The podcast of this lecture is now available on Soundcloud here.

Join us to hear: Prof. Corinna Salvadori Lonergan, Fellow Emerita, Italian Department. Wednesday 2 October, 7:30pm Loyola Institute, School of Religion, Room G16

The first official General Assembly of the Kircher Network, the family of Jesuit institutions of higher education in Europe and the Near East, met in Innsbruck, Austria, from the 7th to the 9th of July 2019. It provided a valuable opportunity to meet with rectors and deans of the institutions that form the Kircher Network. Of particular interest to the Loyola Institute was the meeting of the theological institutions. You can read more about the meeting here

Each time Pinocchio told a lie, his nose grew long. So we have all come to believe, from the popular films and stories which have grown out of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio. The original story is more complex. ..’ Thus began Dr Fáinche Ryan’s article on the importance of truth-telling in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. You can read this short article here

Evening and Short Courses brochure for academic year 2019-2020 is now available at this link. Please note that the School of Religion offerings are in the brochure from page 32. If you have any questions regarding any of our modules, please feel free to contact the Loyola Institute by e-mail at loyola@tcd.ie or by phone 01 896 4790.

Loyola students from the MPhil module in Theology and Art - Lian Gu, Mary Ellen Hawkey, Amanda Dillon (Adjunct Lecturer), Patrick Logue, Miriam Hennessy and Dorothy Glennon in St Apollinaire en Classe, Ravenna.

It has been another busy term at the Loyola Institute, with our first MPhil students graduating, and our research seminars really picking up momentum. For more of Loyola’s activities, see our Newsletter

Loyola Institute MPhil graduates Anne Potter, Edith O’Nuallain, Leslie Flores, Eoin Walshe and Paul McManus throw their caps in the air, watched by Loyola Institute Director Dr Fáinche Ryan and Dr Con Casey. For more information on the M.Phil. see here.

Newly elected Trinity College Fellow Dr Fáinche Ryan (in centre) with from left Dr Cornelius Casey Associate Director Loyola Institute, Trinity College Provost Patrick Prendergast, Trinity College Registrar Professor Paula Murphy and Professor Paul O’Grady, Department of Philosophy Trinity College Dublin.

As part of Trinity Week 2019, theme of SILENCE, the Loyola Institute will host a screening of the award winning film, Die Grosse Stille. When this film was proposed in 1984, the Carthusians wanted time to think. Sixteen years later Philip Gröning was permitted to document the life of the Grande Chartreuse monastery. The result is a work of contemplation, a promise of transcendence, a journey into a world of ritualistic repetition. This screening will offer an opportunity to experience the silence of Carthusian life. Booking is required via Eventbrite - click here. PLEASE NOTE: Screening will take place in the Samuel Beckett Theatre in the Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin.

This is the last Loyola Lecture of this academic year. Brian Mac Cuarta SJ, the Jesuit Archivist in Rome, will address us on the theme of English and Scottish Catholics in Ireland, c. 1580 – 1641.The lecture is free, and all are welcome.

For our next Loyola Lecture we are delighted to welcome Prof. Deirdre Raftery, Professor of the history of education at UCD, and an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Prof. Raftery is author of Nano Nagle; the Life and the Legacy (2018). Deirdre Raftery was Fulbright Scholar in the Humanities (2015-2016), at Boston College and a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford in 2010. She is a Life Member of the University of Cambridge. We look forward with great interest to the opportunities for research and innovation Deirdre will share with us.

“To Whistle Creation” is the enigmatic title that Aidan Matthews, poet and drama producer at RTE has chosen for his Loyola Lecture. In what promises to be a thought provoking lecture Aidan will address the issue of the Church: “our present capsize” - ‘the Swiss Robinson Family focus: how to turn an irreversible shipwreck into a temporary tree-house, and why not to’. Lecture will be in the Loyola Institute/ISE Building. All are welcome. Aidan has been educated by Jesuits since he was eight. After being both a Shinner and a Trinner at UCD and TCD, he studied under Rene Girard at Stanford when Silicon Valley was still a dairy farm. Born in Donnybrook, when the milk-floats were horse-led, he continues to work there in the RTE Radio Centre. His most recent books are Fasting and Feasting (Veritas), a response to those identical twins, Christmas and Easter, and Strictly No Poetry (Lilliput), poems about the church, the culture, and the culture wars, by a Roaming Catholic. He is married to Trish Bourden, who has gifted him with two children and a kidney, for almost forty years.

Congratulations to Marcus Gaffney, the recipient of a scholarship being offered for a Ph.D. building on the theme of an international conference organised by the Loyola Institute, entitled The Role of Church in a Pluralist Society: Good Riddance or Good Influence? Marcus’ work will focus on human freedom, from a theological perspective. Marcus recently presented a paper at the Emerging Scholars forum at a meeting of Irish Branch of the European Society for Catholic Theology (ESCT) in Thurles recently.

The next lecture in the Loyola Lecture Series will be delivered by Prof. Piotr Roszak (Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland) on Weds 13th Feb at 7.30 pm, here in the Loyola Institute/ISE Building, TCD, Room G16. All Welcome/Free event

Courses offered this term include The Book of Kells: A Theological Reading and God: One and Three. These are daytime courses and comprise two lectures a week for an eleven week term. See more here.

Congratulations to Dr Mary Stefanazzi on her recent publication in New Blackfriars Victor White OP: War and the Narrative of Human Flourishing. You can read the article here.

Congratulations to Dr Kristopher Seaman on his recent graduation. Kristopher is currently teaching theology at Saint Xavier University, Chicago. He is pictured here, at his graduation, with Dr Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland and Chancellor of Trinity College, University of Dublin.

Join us on Wednesday 28th November at 7.30pm for the next Loyola Lecture, Room G16. Dr Ann Buckley will address the topic of Singing and Prayer in the Middle Ages. Free admittance.

On Wednesday 31st October 2018, at 7.30 pm, we welcome Dr. Patrick Riordan S.J. to the Loyola Institute. Dr. Riordan is currently Dean of Discipline and Fellow in Political Philosophy & Catholic Social Thought, at Campion Hall, Oxford. Dr. Riordan is a world renowned expert in this important topic, the common good. We look forward to his lecture. We will have copies of his latest book, Recovering Common Goods, for sale at this event. Free event. All welcome.

This new, free, online course has been developed by academics from Trinity College Dublin including the Loyola Institute Director, Fainche Ryan. Learners on the four week long course will explore the art, theology and materiality of the manuscript and the meanings that it holds. The course will commence on October 8, 2018. Learn more and register here

Dr Alan Roxbourgh will address the above theme during this lecture which is a joint venture of the chaplaincy and Loyola Institute and will be preceded by Choral Evensong in the Trinity College Chapel at 5.15 pm. This lecture will be held on Thursday, 13th September 2018 at 6.30 pm in the Loyola Institute, Room G16, Loyola/ISE Building, School of Religion, Trinity College Dublin. All WELCOME

You will acquire in-depth knowledge of core issues in current Christian theology including Church and Ministry, Theology of the Bible, Violence and Grace.This degree can be studied full-time or part-time. Lectures are normally held on Monday and Thursday evenings.

The Loyola Institute recently hosted a seminar on Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love. Read an account of the seminar here.

It is a dangerous time to hope. Post-war democratic consensus seems to be threatened. There appears to be a sea-change in Irish culture. It is in this context that the Jesuit publication Studies titled its Summer 2018 edition 'Doing theology in dangerous times'. We are delighted that two papers delivered in the Loyola Institute Lecture series are included. Sebastien Maillard of the Jacques Delors Institute addressed the issue of 'Brexit and Spirituality' while Associate Adjunct Professor Michael Kirwan S.J. paper addressed this very issue of doing theology in dangerous time. This issue of Studies can be bought for 10 euro.

On Saturday 9th June, 10.30 am to 1 pm, the Loyola Institute will host a seminar at which we will dig a little deeper into the wealth of insights we are afforded by the recent writings of Pope Francis on the Joy of Love. While many greeted these teachings with great positivity some leading Church figures were unhappy with aspects of the teachings. Some of the questions they raised will be explored. Join Profs Michael Kirwan, Fainche Ryan and Cornelius Casey for what promises to be an exciting event, one which will help prepare us for the forthcoming World Meeting of Families, and for Pope Francis' visit to Ireland.

Dr Fainche Ryan will address the Conference of European University Chaplains (CEUC) when they meet in Trinity College on June 7th, 2018. The title of the conference is 'Our Ancient Future'. Dr Ryan's presentation is entitled The Eucharist: Our Ancient Future and will focus on eucharistic imagery in the Book of Kells. Afterwards the conference participants will visit the Book of Kells.

On Friday 11th May, 2018 the Loyola Institute welcomes Prof. Dianne Bergant, to Trinity College Dublin. Prof. Bergant is a Sister of St. Agnes of Fond du Lac. She served on the faculty at Catholic Theological Union from 1978 to 2014. Professor Bergant's Lecture will take place in the Loyola Institute at 6.30 pm. Please note the time is earlier than normal for Loyola Lectures. This is a public Lecture.

Jacob J. Erickson, Loyola Institute, joined the Provost and colleagues from the Arts and Humanities at the home of Lady Dufferin in London recently to celebrate the work of the Trinity Long Room Hub. In his address the Provost stated 'without the arts and humanities we find ourselves in a vacuum, not knowing where we came from, what we should value, how we should relate to others. We lose track of where we are going'.

Where do we find FORGIVENESS in the Hebrew Bible-Old Testament? - May 11th and 12th, 2018 in Trinity College Dublin in the ISE-LI Building. Booking is via Eventbrite with a cost of 25 euro which includes tea/coffee and light lunch

Loyola students and staff have had a busy time with lots going on during the last few months. Read our Spring Newsletter to get a flavour of our activities.

In the context of the debate around the 8th amendment the Loyola Institute, Trinity College Dublin will host a forum for reasoned academic debate on issues of law, morality and science as they pertain to living humanely. The event takes place on Friday 13th April 2018 (9.30 am - 4.30 pm) in the Irish School of Ecumenics-Loyola Institute Building, Trinity College. Booking is via Eventbrite with a cost of 25 euro which includes tea/coffee and light lunch

Congratulations to Loyola's David Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible - Old Testament, who was elected a Fellow this morning. Well done David!

We welcome Prof. Lisa Sowle-Cahill, (J. Donald Monan Professor, Boston College) to the Loyola Institute. Professor Sowle-Cahill will give the Paul Lennon O.Carm. Lecture in the Long Room Hub, Trinity College on April 12th, 2018 at 7.30 pm. This is a Public Lecture.

Professor Garrigan's research on homelessness and the theologies at the root of our ideas of 'home' has led to her being asked to chair a new sort of discussion at this year's Mountains to Sea literary festival in Dún Laoghaire. The Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni is travelling from her home in Homs to join the Scotland-based writer Darran Anderson and the Dublin-based economist Dan O'Brien to discuss our current 'Battle for Home'

On Monday 9th April 2018, Prof Jacob Erickson will be speaking at University College Cork, CACSSS Seminar Room, O'Rahilly Building from 5:00 - 6:30 pm.

Professor Garrigan is one of the leaders of Corrymeela's second annual Carafest. She will lead three sessions on a contemporary reading of the Gospel in Solentiname, plus an ecumenical worship service as part of the community's Easter celebrations. March 30th to April 2nd 2018. All are welcome.

On Wednesday 28th March, 7.30 pm, in the next of the series of Loyola Lectures, Sebastien Maillard will address us on the topic of Brexit and Europe, a political and spiritual challenge. Sebastien Maillard is the Director of the Jacques Delors Institute, Paris. Prior to this he was a journalist at the leading French daily newspaper La Croix. An expert in European affairs Maillard has taught at Sciences Po (Paris) and Boston College, USA. He is author of 'What We Have made of Europe?' (edited by Salvator, 2013). This event will be chaired by Noelle O Connell, Executive Director, European Movement Ireland. Please note the location in the Long Room Hub, Trinity College, Dublin

RTÉ's Leap of Faith this weekend gave the whole programme over to a discussion of Mary McAleese's speech in Rome. Professor Siobhán Garrigan, Loyola Chair of Catholic Theology, spoke of the need for better theological education for the laity and talked about the Loyola Institute's work to this end.

We are hosting a workshop for RE teachers entitled Laudato si - Pope Francis and his love letter for the earth on Thursday 8th March from 5.00 pm to 6.45 pm. Venue: Loyola Institute, ISE-LI Institute building, TCD. All RE Teachers welcome but prior booking required at Loyola@tcd.ie or phone 01 8964790.

On Wednesday 28th February, we welcome Dr. Patrick Riordan S.J. to the Loyola Institute. Dr. Riordan is currently Dean of Discipline and Fellow in Political Philosophy & Catholic Social Thought, at Campion Hall, Oxford. Dr. Riordan is a world renowned expert in this important topic, the common good. We look forward to his lecture. We are also privileged to be launching his latest book, Recovering Common Goods, at this event. The lecture will be followed by a wine reception. Free event. All welcome.

We are pleased to announce we are podcasting out public lecture series on soundcloud. You can follow us on Theology@Loyola Institute TCD . Our first Podcast is Dr. Michael Kirwan S.J.'s recent lecture 'Stand upright and raise your head!': Doing theology in dangerous times Listen here.

At 7.30 pm on Wednesday 31st January, Dr Michael Kirwan, SJ, will give the first Loyola Lecture of 2018. Dr Kirwan is currently a visiting Professor at the Loyola Institute, and we all very much look forward hearing him address us. His lecture has a provocative and fascinating title. To read an article from Trinity's News about Michael's lecture click here.

Prof Siobhan Garrigan, Loyola Chair of Catholic Theology, (front row, second from left) with Deans and Heads of Theology and Religion from Oxford, Helsinki, Freiborg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Strasbourg. This meeting resulted in a plan for a major joint event in Brussels in April 2018 at which LERU will lobby the EU parliament for increased awareness of, and attention to, Religion in FP9 (round of research funding to be announced in June 2018).

Join us at the Loyola Institute on Saturday, 9th December at 11 am and 1 pm for our ten minute pop-up lectures followed by a session with some of our students who will talk about their experience studying Theology here in the Loyola Institute.
All Welcome

Congratulations to Jacob Erikson, Assistant Professor at the Loyola Institute, who has been invited to join the Steering Committee for the American Academy of Religion's 'Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions'Unit. Drawing on an immensely rich Lutheran tradition, as well as on the relationship to other Christian traditions and to cultures in the global South the research unit 'seeks to provide an avenue for a comprehensive conversation on both Lutheran history and thought in the global context'

Dr. Fainche Ryan, Director of the Loyola Institute, asked 'Will post-truth set us free?' at a symposium organised by Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research institute and New York's Columbia University. You can listen to the panel discussion of these issues here (note: Fainche's presentation beings at 19:00).

Check out what Loyola students and staff have been up to in the last few months by reading through our latest Newsletter.

21st Century perspectives on the Reformation 2017 marks the 500th Anniversary of the start of the Reformation 31st October 1517. To commemorate and better understand this unique historical event and the processes it set in motion the Dublin Unitarian Church organised a series of lunch time lectures. As part of this series Dr. Cornelious Casey, Loyola's Associate Diretor, gave a lecture entitled 'The counter Reformation and the Council of Trent'. You can listen to a podcast of the talk here.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ, Senior Lecturer, Heythrop College, University of London to give the second of our Loyola Lectures for 2017-18. We hope you can join us on Wednesday 22nd November, 7.30 pm, Room G16, Loyola Institute - Irish School of Ecumenics Building, - Admission Free - All Welcome

Join us at the Loyola Institute on Thursday 23rd November, 5.30 to 7.30 pm and learn more about the many possible ways of studying theology here at Trinity. You can audit a course (no exams), study for an undergraduate degree or for an MPhil in Christian Theology. We also supervise research degrees (PhD).
All Welcome

We are very proud to have our first ever Loyola graduates! Four students; Eoin Stanley, Leo Hanna , Ciara Gaffney and Colette Pegum were conferred with BA’s in Catholic Theology today. Director of Loyola Institute Dr Fainche Ryan and Associate Director Dr Con Casey were present at the graduation ceremony in Trinity College today to congratulate the students and celebrate with them. We wish Ciara and Colette (photographed )and Eoin and Leo (who were conferred in absentia) the very best with their careers and look forward to seeing what they do next.

One of the brilliant features of theology and biblical studies is multidisciplinarity: Professor David Shepherd recently conducted a research seminar at the University of Nottingham. Shepherd reports, 'The seminar asked into how American filmmakers like D.W. Griffith and Thomas Ince deployed Jesus in films made (in part) to keep America out of WWI and how images of Jesus were deployed in the cinema after American entered the war in 1917. I also talked about how German cinema deployed Jesus after the War to persuade Germans to renounce (the largely) right-wing violence and the kinds of assassinations which plagued the Weimar Republic in the early Twenties and had played a part in precipitating WWI in the first place.

Lecture by Prof Darryl Jones, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. We hope you can join us on Wednesday 25th October, 7.30 pm, Room G16, Loyola Institute - Irish School of Ecumenics Building, - Admission Free - All Welcome

Congratulations to Leslie Flores who has been awarded the Dominic Barberi Studentship for our new MPhil in Christian Theology. Leslie, a graduate of Seattle Bible College, is from Washington State. She has previously served at St Mark's Church in Dublin. She chose this M.Phil in Christian Theology to better equip her in this work with young people at St. Mark's Church into the future. This studentship is funded thanks to the generous support of the Passionist Provinces of Britain and Ireland (St Joseph's Province and St Patrick's Province). We were delighted to welcome Fr James Sweeney CP Provincial of the St Patrick's Province to present Leslie with her award. We are very pleased that the Passionists have agreed to offer this studentship again next year. For details of the MPhil in Christian Theology see here.

More than 200 delegates attended this conference to listen to world renowned experts on mysticism in the Western Christian tradition. Speakers included Prof. Bernard McGinn, Dr. Anne Marie Karlsson, Laurence Freeman OSB and Dr. Mary O'Driscoll. Read more here

Fr Dan Baragry CSsR (Provincial of the Irish Redemptorists) attended a reception to welcome students at the commencement of Loyola Institute’s new MPhil in Christian Theology. At this Fr Baragry presented two scholarships named in memory of Redemptorist theologian Sean O’Riordan. The successful MPhil students are Beverley Collins and Edith O’Nuallain. We are very grateful to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for this support which will continue with further scholarships being offered for 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. For details of the MPhil in Christian Theology see

Lecture series taking place over 6 Wednesday evenings in 2017-2018 Academic Term in the ISE-Loyola Building. Click here for details

Loyola Institute's Dr. Fainche Ryan gave a paper on truth, post-truth and the virtue of truth telling in Aquinas.The theme of the symposium was Aquinas and Modern Thinkers. Other speakers included John Haldane, Gyula Klima, Patrick Masterson, Siobhan Nash-Marshall, John O'Callaghan, Fern O'Rourke and Rudie te Veldi.

International Conference took place on September 15th and 16th 2017 - Trinity College Dublin. For more details please click here

The Loyola Institute invites people who have a curiosity about theology and the big issues of life to attend our short courses. ALL Welcome. For more details and a copy of our brochure, click here.

Loyola Institute's Jacob J. Erickson spoke about global warming and the 'politics of conviviality' at a recent conference. The one-day conference was sponsored by the Green Foundation Ireland, Green European Foundation, and the Irish School of Ecumenics.

Loyola Institute's Dr. David Shepherd collaborated in adapting for the stage an incomplete play by Bertoit Brecht about the Biblical David. Staged as 'The David Fragments', it ran to great acclaim in the Trinity College Beckett Theatre from June 28th to July 1st.