Charlie Purcell (b. 1930), former lecturer, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering

Charlie Purcell has a very interesting story to record. He is a native of Nenagh, North Tipperary who moved to Canada and later to the USA where he lived for ten years. While in Boston he graduated with a master’s degree in Civil and Structural Engineering and in 1964 he was appointed to a teaching position at Limerick VEC. He discusses the fact that at that time he broke new ground because he was one of the first third level teachers in the vocational system to be appointed outside of Dublin. It is interesting to hear of the courses in which he was involved, which allowed the curriculum to be widened into general civil engineering. This was because the Office for Public Works were interested only in the two basic subjects of Hydraulics and Surveying. From those early beginnings, some of his students achieved very high positions in their careers, as he discovered at a reunion not too long ago. The recording focusses on his move to Cork in 1973 to take up an appointment at the old Crawford, where he was involved with the design of the first NCEA-accredited Civil Engineering courses. He gives his personal opinion on the grading of students, and feels that the present system does not do justice to some of the students. He also discusses the large classes and the lecturing system.