AFS Congratulates Past President Henry Glassie on Receiving Honorary Doctorate from University College Dublin

In recognition of his tireless advocacy for folklore and understanding the human experience, AFS Past President and pioneering ethnologist Professor Henry Glassie received an honorary degree from University College Dublin (UCD) in May 2025.

In a career that has led to numerous honours and achievements, including an appointment to the United States National Council on the Humanities by President Bill Clinton, the 84-year-old has not only reshaped the field of folklore studies but “also deepened our collective understanding of the cultural fabric that unites and defines human beings”.

According to Associate Professor Bairbre Ní Fhloinn, UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore, it was fitting for UCD to acknowledge and celebrate the work of Professor Glassie given his long-standing links with the University, and especially with the National Folklore Collection and its predecessors.

Professor Glassie’s work in Ireland is only part of the story Professor Ní Fhloinn continued, detailing his extensive fieldwork on the vernacular traditions of Turkey, Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Nigeria, and in his own country, the United States.

“The stories he records are not merely data to be analysed but the lived experiences of real people,” she added.

Also, at the conferring was read a message from former American ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin.

Offering her warmest congratulations, she said Professor Glassie represented American scholarship at its finest and that his work demonstrates what that scholarship can achieve, in Ireland and elsewhere.

“For that, we offer him our sincere thanks and salute him today on this happy occasion.”