Course List
Lifelong Learning | Current Course List
Bookings for Autumn and Spring 2023/2024 are open- we hope you can join our courses.
This autumn we’ll be continuing to promote lifelong learning virtually, as well as face to face. Our office will be open Monday to Friday (9am to 5pm) from Monday 14th August. We also check our email regularly, so please contact us if you have any questions or concerns and we'll get back to you within 24 hours. Our email address is: all@ucd.ie, or you can contact us on 01 716 7123
Free Online Resources
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| History Hub | History Hub hosts podcasts, papers, and documents highlighting new historical research. Based in the School of History at UCD. |
| Borrowbox | Borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks free from your library using BorrowBox. |
| Library of Congress | Online resources from the Library of Congress, the United States' oldest federal cultural institution, serving as the research arm of Congress. |
| National Archives | The National Archives hold and secure the preservation of records of the Irish State and are available online. |
| Royal Irish Academy | Irish Script on Screen is a project which was initiated by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, in 1999. The aim of the project is to make Irish manuscripts available on the web for the purposes of information and research. |
| Royal Irish Academy Irish History Online |
Irish History Online is the national bibliography of Irish history. It is part of a European network of national historical bibliographies from fourteen countries. Irish History Online is an authoritative listing (in progress) of what has been written about Irish history from earliest times to the present |
| Come Here to Me | Come Here To Me! is a group blog that focuses on the life and culture of Dublin city. Music, history, football, politics and pub crawls all feature, along with much more. |
| Future Learn | Free online courses |
| Bookshare | Bookshare Ireland is the largest accessible digital library in the country, available for all people with sight loss and print disabilities |
| Libraries Ireland | Membership of all public libraries is free for everyone. You can join at any age and use all of the library services. |
| Bright Sparks Creative Bursts | If you are at home with children, MoLI, in partnership with children's author Sarah Webb, have created this fantastic resource to inspire writing through games and prompts. |
| Mooc List | Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to enroll. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance your career and deliver quality educational experiences at scale. |
| The Sanctuary | Free online meditation sessions via Zoom three times per week. |
| New York Metropolitan Opera | The New York Metropolitan Opera has Free streams. Each night at 19:30 pm EST (23:30 GMT) an opera will be shown and will be available for 20 hours. |
| Royal Opera House | The Royal Opera House, London, will also broadcast a number of performances for free |
| Press Reader | You can read newspapers by accessing PressReader through your browser or by downloading the PressReader app for apple or android devices. |
| History Ireland | History Ireland’s online archive gives free access to all but the last 6 issues and contains most of the last 27 years of articles. |
| Alto Odyssey | Computer games, they are also a form of meditative relaxation, some of the best within the ‘endless runner’ genre. |
| Victoria & Albert Museum | From Ancient Chinese Ceramics to Alexander McQueen- take an online journey through 5,000 years of human creativity. |
| The Model, Sligo | During the current closure, the Model in Sligo are running an innovative new project online, 'Inside Out', where people of all ages can learn more about art and artists from their homes. |
| Europeana | Discover inspiring cultural heritage from European museums, galleries, libraries, and archives |
| Discovery Programme | The Discovery Programme’s mission is to explore Ireland’s past and its cultural heritage by conducting advanced research in Irish archaeology and related disciplines and by disseminating its findings widely to the global community. |
| National Print Museum | Online exhibition to promote a greater understanding of the historical significance and the contemporary relevance of printing in Ireland by exploring its heritage, craft, and technology. |
| Archiseek | An online exhibition exploring the architecture of Ireland |
| Duolingo | Learn a language for free. Whether you're looking to learn Spanish or Klingon, Duolingo is a fun and effective tool for learning a new language. |
| UCD Digital Library | UCD Digital Library captures digital cultural resources and research outputs of the University College Dublin community as well as its collaborators and partners |
| Dúchas | Online access to material from the National Folklore Collection |
| Springer Nature | Free access to a range of essential textbooks from all disciplines |
YouTube Channels
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| UCD Access & Lifelong Learning | Subscribe to the UCD Access & Lifelong Learning YouTube Channel for videos from the ALL Centre. |
| UCD Special Collections | University College Dublin Library's Special Collections contains unique book, archival and manuscript collections. Their YouTube channel highlights some of these collections and often features content from exhibitions and readings. |
| National Theatre UK | Every Thursday at 7pm, the best British theatre, free to stream for a week. Starting from 2 April. |
| Opera North | A series of videos from Opera North. You can also watch Wagner's Ring Cycle |
| Occupational Therapy Resources | A YouTube Resource developed by UCD ALL Occupational Therapists in collaboration with occupational therapists in TCD and TUDublin. Videos on minding your mental health and developing routines are now available on their YouTube and are fully captioned. |
| TED Talks | The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) |
| Smithsonian | A channel where curiosity lives, inspiration strikes and wonders never cease. This is the place for awe-inspiring stories and powerful documentaries. |
| Artworks from the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Collection | Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is home to an impressive collection of artworks. The collection includes artists of significant historical importance as well as contemporary artists of local, national and international interest. They are exhibited here virtually on the Council's YouTube Channel. |
Virtual Tours
| (Online) Venue | Description |
|---|---|
| J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles | Explore the Getty Museum, LA online |
| Guggenheim, Bilbao | Explore the Guggenheim, Bilbao online |
| National Gallery of Ireland | Explore the wonders of the National Gallery of Ireland's collection, and take a leisurely stroll around their beautiful galleries from the comfort of your own home in the first in a series of virtual tours. |
| National Museum of Ireland | Virtual tours of National Museum of Ireland - Natural History, including two balconies that are usually closed to the public |
| Chester Beatty | 3D virtual tours of the Chester Beatty |
| EPIC - The Irish Emigration Museum | Can’t come to EPIC? Then EPIC will come to you! |
| Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum | Virtual tours, including the O'Connell tower |
| Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) | Explore the IMMA collection online |
| Marsh's Library | Marsh's Library have a collection of 9 digital exhibitions, the most recent is a series of marginalia and doodles written into books in the 16th and 17th centuries. Others include the rarest books in the world, books stolen from the library, and rare Jewish books in the collection. (Click on the "Digital" tab to view all) |
| Google Arts & Culture | A great resource for any art fan, with limited access to art with over 2,500 museums. There you'll find comprehensive tours of popular destinations like the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and London's Tate Modern |
| Louvre, Paris | Visit the museum's exhibition rooms and galleries and contemplate the façades of the Louvre |
| Street Art: Virtual Walking Tours | From New York to Buenos Aires; jump on a (virtual) guided tour, hit the streets, and hear the stories behind the art. |
| The Vatican | Virtual tours of the Vatican, including the Pio Clementino Museum |
| Rijksmuseum | The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are bringing art to living rooms across the world with a range of online initiatives, including virtual tours and talks. |
Podcasts
| Podcast | Description |
|---|---|
| History Hub | History Hub hosts podcasts highlighting new historical research, covering a huge variety of topics ranging from the Middle Ages to the new millennium. They are based in the School of History at UCD. |
| Blúiríní Béaloidis | Blúiríní Béaloidis is the new podcast from the National Folklore Collection, UCD. |
| National Gallery of Ireland | The National Gallery of Ireland have podcasts available through their website, including a new series produced to accompany their exhibition 'Moment in Time'. |
| RadioMoLI | An internet radio station for Irish literature, RadioMoLI presents commissioned writing, discussion, interviews, radio plays, documentary and more in a 24/7 digital broadcast. |
| Gaeltacht UCD | Gaeltacht UCD supports those looking to engage more with the Irish language and produces podcasts as Gaeilge |
| This American Life | This American Life is a weekly public radio program and podcast. Each week they choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme. |
| Hugh Lane Gallery: Curator's Choice | A series of podcasts from the Hugh Lane Gallery, exploring its wonderful collection. |
| Three Castles Burning | Historian Donal Fallon's Three Castles Burning is a social history podcast, dedicated to the story of the Irish capital. Dublin is a city of many stories, Three Castles Burning tells some of the more forgotten ones. |
| UCD Access & Lifelong Learning | We have a number of podcasts available on our own site, including some old favourites from our well-known tutor, Michael Doran. |
Featured Lifelong Learner: Freida