Ireland Program
Overview
Students participating in the University of Kansas Ireland Program take courses at two beautiful universities: The University of Limerick and Trinity College Dublin. Faculty from KU Law and the University of Limerick teach courses on relevant topics.
The first week of classes will be held on the beautiful campus of the University of Limerick, a relatively new Irish university located on the banks of the Shannon River. The final two weeks will be held at the famous Trinity College Dublin in the heart of Dublin’s Temple Bar area. Students will tour some of Ireland’s most scenic spots, including a weekend in Galway.
Financial aid and scholarships are available.
For more information, contact Professor Stephen McAllister at stevemac@ku.edu.
Program Information
See below for more information about the next program dates, application deadline, curriculum, admissions requirements and other details about KU Law's study abroad program in Ireland.
Program Dates and Application
The 2025 program is scheduled for July 13 - Aug. 1, 2025. The program application deadline is Feb. 16, 2025.
Course Descriptions
Students in the Ireland program take three courses for a total of three credit hours (one credit hour per course). The first course will be completed during the first week of the program, and the second and third courses will be completed over the last two weeks of the program.
This course will look at U.S. counterterrorism law from the perspective of other jurisdictions, in particular signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights. It will look at how the evolution of U.S. counterterrorism law particularly after 9/11, and its subsequent extension overseas, has conflicted, in varying degrees, with the laws of foreign allies such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The course will be divided into three primary sections:
- Attacking terrorists overseas – definition and classification of terrorism and terrorists; justifying military versus law enforcement responses; the use of targeted killings and lethal drones in foreign jurisdictions.
- Detecting and preventing terrorism – international and domestic surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and privacy concerns in European law; monitoring international commercial and financial transactions for terrorist links.
- Detaining, interrogating and prosecuting terrorists – habeas corpus for non-U.S. citizens; U.S. interrogation standards and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); extradition between the U.S. and EU jurisdictions; extraordinary rendition.
- Information control and secrecy – attempts to control the flow of information on counter-terror tactics, including the so-called wiki leaks and Julian Assange stand-off.
The course will also contrast the use of similar laws in the United Kingdom when dealing with terrorist activities in Northern Ireland, particularly between 1969 and today.
Information coming soon.
Information coming soon.
Program Faculty
Stephen McAllister is the E.S. & Tom W. Hampton Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas. Prior to joining the KU Law faculty in 1993, Stephen McAllister clerked for Justices Byron White and Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Richard Posner at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He also was in private practice in the Washington, D.C., office of the Los Angeles law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
A respected teacher, scholar and appellate lawyer, he received the Dean Frederick J. Moreau Award in 1997, a W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 1999 and the Steeples Award for Service to Kansans in 2008. He served as the first and only Solicitor of the State of Kansas from 1999 to 2003 and was dean of the law school from 2000 to 2005. He also served as the Solicitor General of Kansas, assisting the attorney general's office with constitutional litigation, including briefing, arguing and winning for Kansas the case of Kansas v. Ventris (U.S. 2009).
In November 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court appointed McAllister to defend the judgment below in Bond v. United States, No. 09-1227. In that capacity, McAllister filed a merits brief, and he presented oral argument to the court on Feb. 22, 2011.
In 2013, McAllister assisted the Kansas Attorney General in Kansas v. Cheever (U.S. 2013), which Kansas won 9-0 in the Supreme Court. In October 2014 McAllister will argue for Kansas in the case of Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado (U.S.).
Also in 2013, McAllister taught a Landmark Supreme Court Cases course with Justice Clarence Thomas through a study abroad program in Innsbruck, Austria.
From 2018 to 2021, he served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas.
Raymond J. Friel is a graduate of UCC and the University of Exeter and was called to the Bar in 1986. After an appointment at University College Wales, he joined the School of Law at the University of Limerick in 1989. Since then, he was head of the School for nine years, interim head of the Department of History for one year, and university advocate for four years. He is currently head of the Law School again, for an unprecedented fourth term, since 2020.
He has held visiting professorships at Boston College Law School, Western University Law School in Canada, the University of New Hampshire Law School and the University of Kansas School of Law. His areas of specialization are contract and commercial law. He has authored leading treatises on contract, tax and business law.
He has published extensively both nationally and internationally in prestigious law reviews, including the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Fordham Journal of International Law, Common Law World Review, Arbitration, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, Journal of Legal Education, Washburn Law Review, University of Kansas Law Review and the uniform Commercial Code Law Review, to name a few.
Currently, he is director of the international commercial and economic law research group and is an examiner for entry to the legal profession for both the Honorable Society of the Kings Inns in Contract Law and an examiner Law Society of Ireland entrance examination in Tort Law. He has also been appointed to several universities as an external examiner and has been invited as an expert referee for a number of journals. He has been a principal investigator on the legal data environment for an EU research project on autonomous automobile safety systems with a total fund of nearly €5 million and a variety of partners including Honda motor vehicles.
Admission Requirements
This program is open to all KU Law students who have completed the first-year curriculum in good standing. Check back for application deadlines for the next session. Late applications are considered.
Grades are determined based on a written final examination in each course in accordance with KU Law grading procedures. Available grades are:
- A (4.0)
- A- (3.7)
- B+ (3.3)
- B (3.0)
- B- (2.7)
- C+ (2.3)
- C (2.0)
- C- (1.7)
- D+ (1.3)
- D (1.0)
- D- (.7)
- F (0)
Tuition and Costs
Visit the Ireland program page on the Office of Study Abroad and Global Engagement website for a breakdown of costs for this program.
Transportation
Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from Ireland. Once enrolled, students will receive an informational packet with information on airline options, travel options in Ireland and points of interest. The packet also includes general information about living in Ireland for three weeks. Students should not book travel until they receive an acceptance package.
Housing
Housing at the University of Limerick will be on campus. The campus features several amenities, including ATMs, laundry and dry cleaning, a bookstore and active pubs. Housing during the Galway and Dublin-center excursions will be at hostels unless the student makes their own arrangements. Housing during the Dublin portion of the program will be on campus at Trinity College Dublin.
Cancellation
Students must notify the University of Kansas by letter or email of their intent to withdraw from the program. If a student withdraws after being accepted for the program, they will be liable for the program deposit plus any non-recoverable expenses incurred on the participant's behalf. Students are responsible for any and all costs arising out of the student's own voluntary or involuntary withdrawal from the program prior to its completion, including withdrawal caused by illness or disciplinary action by representatives of the University of Kansas. The sponsoring school reserves the right to cancel the program for any reason, including insufficient enrollment. In the unlikely event of a cancellation, notices will be sent to all students and all money will be refunded.
Financial Aid
For students who would like to talk about application paperwork with David Wiley or financial aid with Taylor Cole, both are available for virtual advising appointments.
Virtual advising appointments
In-person advising appointments
Health and Liability Insurance
KU Law is not responsible for student's medical care or expenses in case of illness or accident. All students participating in a study abroad program are required to be covered by health insurance that the participant has determined to be adequate and satisfactory for any injury or illness that might befall them.
Students with Disabilities
Facilities in Limerick are generally not as accessible to individuals with disabilities as are facilities in the United States. Individuals with special needs should contact the program director to arrange for special accommodations.
State Department Travel Information
Information about travel advisories and warnings for Ireland is available on the U.S. Department of State website.
Ireland Contact
Professor Raymond Friel
School of Law
Foundation Building, University of Limerick
Castletroy, Limerick
Ireland
Phone: + 353 61 202348
raymond.friel@ul.ie
Questions?
Stephen McAllister
E.S. & Tom W. Hampton Distinguished Professor of Law
stevemac@ku.edu
785-864-9236