Osborough and Legal Education and Scholarship for Irish University Law Schools: Marking the Dawn of a New Era

Official reports could prompt keen analysis by Nial Osborogh as can be seen in his 1985 article, “Scholarship and the University Law School: Thoughts Prompted by a Recent Canadian Study”, which is the primary concern of this essay. The article is of interest as Professor Osborough is the only person to have been Head of School (and, in the case of UCD, Dean) of Trinity College School of Law and of the UCD School of Law. In this article Osborough took this “thoroughly uncomfortable” report on university legal education and scholarship in Canada as an opportunity to reflect on Irish law schools and scholarship. The report was concerned with the dearth of fundamental research in Canadian law at that time, with little doctoral research undertaken and few applications to the Canadian research council for research funding. It discussed the need for academic research about law as well as doctrinal research in law. Osborough while mindful of the differences between the two educational systems, saw the report as an unmissable opportunity to reflect on Irish scholarship.