Quarryman

About the Journal

Quarryman is the student-run literary journal of University College Cork. It features poetry and prose by students, staff and alumni of UCC, and is run by UCC’s  Literature Society.

Emerging from an earlier culture of student magazines, including a predecessor called Q.C.C., Volume I of The Quarryman was published in 1913. That name was abandoned in favour of The Chronic in 1919; this was dropped yet again for The Locker in 1924. Then it seems there was no magazine until March 1929 when the students of UCC revived the old Quarryman name.
This new Quarryman, which took an increasingly literary approach from at least the 1950s, was a gem among student publications. Some of the finest writing talent to come out of UCC were involved in the running of it or were published in it. Thomas McCarthy gives more on the history of Quarryman and the literary scene in UCC in his own words in the Editorial & Introduction of Volume I. The Boole library archives have issues dating from 1913 to 1984. However, this isn’t a continuous run as production of the magazine lapsed at various points during the 1920s, 1940s,
1950s and 1970s.
The inaugural MA in Creative Writing class of 2013/14 revived the long-dormant journal, and, beginning with Volume I in 2015, this new run was published annually through its first seven volumes, returning in 2025 with Volume VIII.