'A brilliantly creative colleague': Academic community mourns passing of Dr Éibhear Walshe

Members of Cork’s academic community expressed their shock and sadness at the passing of author and head of creative writing at University College Cork’s School of English and Digital Humanities, Dr Éibhear Walshe.

Born in Waterford, Dr Walshe studied in Dublin, and in addition to his lectures in the School of English at UCC, he wrote works of fiction, memoir, literary criticism and biography.

UCC president Professor John O’Halloran said it had been with profound sadness that the UCC community had learned of Dr Walshe’s passing.

“A brilliantly creative colleague, his popularity among both staff and students at UCC is testament to his generosity of spirit and kindness,” Prof O’Halloran said.

“On behalf of all at UCC I wish to extend our deepest sympathies to his mother Celine, brothers Eoin and Sheamus, sisters Ria and Oonagh, and his extended family.

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.” 

Dr Orla Murphy, head of the UCC School of English and Digital Humanities described Dr Walshe as the university’s “guiding light” in creative writing in the school.’

“Éibhear’s smile, his good humour, his collegiality, his vision and ambition to cultivate and celebrate creative writing here at UCC has impacted generations of writers,” she said.

“Éibhear’s remarkable care for his students was at the core of his work, encouraging and supportive, he always had time to listen.” Prof Cathal O’Connell, interim head of college at UCC’s College of Arts Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, said Dr Walshe’s colleagues would warmly remember him as a committed and dedicated academic, who attracted students of creative writing to UCC from all over the world.

“As a gifted author of fiction, memoir, and biography, he was held in the highest esteem by his peers in Ireland and internationally,” he said.

Members of UCC’s LGBT Staff Network paid tribute to Dr Walshe on social media, saying he had made a pioneering contribution to the university’s LGBT+ community and played a vital role in the establishment of the network.

“His teaching, research and writing commemorated and celebrated the place of LGBT+ people in Ireland’s history and culture and gave a voice to LGBT+ people and their allies who were marginalised and silenced in the past,” wrote Ciara Murphy and Diarmuid Scully, co-chairs of the LGBT Staff Network UCC.

“Éibhear’s memoir, Cissie’s Abbatoir (2009), is a beautifully written account of his early life and realisation of his gay identity in 1970s Waterford.”

Dr Walshe’s books include Kate O’Brien: A Writing Life, (2006), Oscar’s Shadow: Wilde and Ireland, (2012), and A Different Story: the Writings of Colm Tóibín, (2013).

His childhood memoir, Cissie’s Abattoir, (2009) was broadcast on RTÉ’s Book on One . His novel, The Diary of Mary Travers, (2014), was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award in 2015 and longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award.

He was associate editor, with Catherine Marshall, of Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks, (2016), edited by Fintan O’Toole, and shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award. The Trumpet Shall Sound, his second novel, was longlisted for the 2021 International Dublin Literary Award. His latest novel was The Last Day at Bowen’s Court (2020).

A book of condolence will be opened in UCC today, and a gathering of staff to remember Dr Walshe will be held on Wednesday.