It is commonly believed that the first (full-time) professors of accounting/accountancy in the British Isles were William Baxter at the London School of Economics and Donald Cousins at the University of Birmingham, both of whom were appointed in 1947. However, this paper argues that the distinction of being the first professor of accounting/accountancy belongs to Bernard (Barney) Francis Shields. He was appointed as Professor of Commerce and Accountancy in 1914 at University College, Galway, when Ireland was politically part of the United Kingdom. This paper details the life of the late Professor Bernard Shields.

Keywords: Biography; Bernard F. Shields; accounting history; Ireland.

Introduction

According to Carnegie and Napier (2000)’ the literature on accounting history includes contributions that detail the identification of the “first ledger”, the “first accountant”, the “first accounting textbook” in different countries, and these contributions are an important element in chronicling the diffusion of accounting. In Ireland, a number of relatively recent accounting history studies have tried to cover this dimension of “the first”. O’Regan and Murphy (1999) provide an analysis of the first signatories to the Irish Institute’s charter in 1888; Clarke (1996a,b) details the content of the first accounting publication to be produced in Ireland, while Craig, Ó hÓgarthaigh and Ó hÓgarthaigh (2004) portray the involvement of four Irishmen in the commercial affairs of New South Wales around the turn of the nineteenth century. One aspect that has been neglected in Ireland is that of early teachers and professors of accounting/accountancy. Certainly, this aspect of accounting history has been investigated in Australia (Carnegie & Williams, 2001), England (Craner & Jones, 1995), Scotland (Lee, 1983, and Walker, 1994) and the USA (Zeff, 2000). This overlooked area in Irish accounting history is surprising, given the fact that the first full-time Chair in a UK University with “accounting” or “accountancy” in its title was filled by an Irishman in an Irish university. This distinction, first reported to the academic world at large by Zeff (1997), belongs to Bernard (Barney) F. Shields, who was appointed as Professor of Commerce and Accountancy at University College, Gal way in 1914 at a time when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Previously, it was commonly believed that the earliest full-time professors of accounting/accountancy in the United Kingdom were William Baxter at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Donald Cousins at the University of Birmingham, both of whom were appointed in 1947 (Craner & Jones, 1995). The objective of this paper is to highlight the career of Professor Bernard Shields. The first part of this paper briefly discusses the Dublin Commission which led to the creation of the National University of Ireland in 1908. A section on Professor Shields follows.

The Dublin Commission

The Irish Universities Act 1908 established two new universities - Queen’s University in Belfast and the National University of Ireland. The National University of Ireland would comprise a newly formed University College, Dublin (formerly Catholic University) together with the Queen’s Colleges at Cork and Galway. University College, Dublin would enrol its first students in 1909 (McCartney, 1999). The University of Dublin (or Trinity College as it is also known) was not affected by this legislation.