CORA
Cork Open Research Archive (CORA) is UCC’s Open Access institutional repository which enables UCC researchers to make their research outputs freely available and accessible.
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Peter Lombard: historian and orator
(University College Cork, 2026-06-30) Madden, Margaret; Harris, Jason; Irish Research Council
This thesis presents a philological and stylistic analysis of Peter Lombard's De Hibernia Insula Commentarius Stromaticus, a petition addressed to Pope Clement VIII in 1600/1601 on behalf of Hugh O'Neill. The Commentarius was written in order to seek support for the conflict that was then raging in Ireland which Lombard expressed as a war of religion. While several influential studies of the historical context of this work have previously been undertaken, they were based on unreliable editions of the text and paid scant attention to the language, genre and style of the work. As a prolegomenon to further research, this thesis offers an examination of the manuscript tradition and what it reveals about the composition of the treatise. Two distinct recensions of the text are identified, produced within one year of each other by the author himself. Material not contained in either of the two posthumously printed editions has been identified. A critical edition of the text is presented as an appendix to this thesis. The two authorial recensions represent distinct moments in a rapidly evolving political and ecclesiastical context, but the revisions also illuminate the stylistic and compositional preoccupations of Lombard, which must be assessed prior to ascribing political motivation to textual emendations. An examination of the vocabulary, syntax and style of the Commentarius reveals an eclectic writer who, while imbued with Ancient Latin, nevertheless writes pragmatically in a style that is eloquent but eschews elaborate ornamentation. The historical core of the work (the commentarius proper) is sandwiched between a praefatio and a peroratio that reflect the origins of the text as a formal address at the papal court and reveal Lombard in the guise of an orator presenting a humble petition to the pope. By contrast, the central portion of the text is written in a style and form that artfully masquerades as artlessness, presenting the ethos of the author, not as a rhetorical historian, but as a reliable witness to the truth. The care that Lombard took to create this effect is demonstrated through close examination of the text, as are the occasions upon which the mask slips. The thesis therefore offers a foundation for subsequent historical investigations and demonstrates the value of detailed stylistic analysis of Neo-Latin texts that appear, at first sight, to have been rather casually or hastily composed.
An exploration of nursing home staff perceptions of the impact of infection prevention and control champions in Ireland: A descriptive qualitative study
(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2026-08-27) Byrne, Richard; Smiddy, Maura
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for robust Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) policies and for the workforce of long-term residential care facilities (LTRCFs) to be educated and trained in IPC with support from specialists with IPC knowledge and advice. IPC champions are often put in place within LTRCFs to provide education and guidance. The aim of this study was to explore how the impact of trained IPC champions (or leads) was perceived by staff in the long-term residential care settings. Methods: Purposive sampling was conducted to recruit participants from three LTRCFs located in the East of Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst six participants which were then transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four themes were identified via codes and sub-themes: (1) IPC Core Knowledge and Skills, (2) Point of Care Coaching and Support, (3) Practical Enablers of IPC and (4) Audit and Quality Improvement in IPC. Conclusion: The results indicate that IPC champions make a positive impact on IPC practices and procedures in Irish LTRCFs. The identified themes and sub-themes indicate that IPC champions’ roles are multi-faceted, and that they utilise several skills to ensure best IPC practices are carried out in their workplace.
Creative coaching methods in career transition: Exploring reflection and meaning-making through LEGO® Serious Play® and collage
(Oxford Brookes University, 2026-09-29) Supple, Briony
This study explores how creative coaching methods may help support reflection and insight in the context of career transition. Eight participants engaged in a facilitated workshop using LEGO® Serious Play® and collage to explore experiences of career change and uncertainty. These methods enabled engagement with physical and visual materials to support reflection and meaning-making. Data was collected through pre- and post-workshop questionnaires, photographs of creative artefacts, reflective memos and researcher field notes. Findings suggest that creative methods may enable a nuanced exploration of identity, priorities and future directions and support meaning-making and re-interpretation of perspectives pertaining to career options.
Real-time data sharing frameworks – current state and research agenda
(Association for Information Systems, 2026-09-01) Sakhno, Anatoliy; Gewald, Heiko; Gupta, Ashish; Järveläinen, Jonna; Morgan, Lorraine; McCarthy, Stephen
Real-time data sharing frameworks (RTDSFs) are emerging as vital digital infrastructures enabling low-latency, cross-organisational data flows in critical industries like finance, healthcare, or energy. Yet the governance, trust, and security challenges specific to real-time, automated, and multi-stakeholder contexts remain undertheorized in the Information Systems literature. This panel report synthesises discussion from an expert panel held at ECIS 2025 in Amman, Jordan, to develop a structured research agenda for the IS community. Through interpretive analysis of the panel transcript and contextual polling with eighteen participants, four interconnected pillars are proposed as productive sites of inquiry for RTDSFs — trust when action outruns validation, governance when oversight follows execution, federated intelligence as a redistribution of control under real-time conditions, and security collaboration under cascade risk and unequal preparedness. Polling results, offered here as indicative rather than confirmatory, suggested participant alignment on the primacy of enforceable governance and the need for regulatory engagement. The resulting research agenda identifies open questions, methodological pathways, and cross-pillar tensions specific to real-time, automated, and cross-organisational data sharing — positioning RTDSFs as a productive and underserved domain for IS inquiry.
Development of online approaches for Kinaesthetic learning in science
(2019-11-07) Scanlan, Anna