Looking back over the past 5 decades of adult education at University College, Cork, one is struck by the realities of continuity and change as the guiding rationale moved from Roman Catholic reconstructionism to community partnership and empowerment. Structures put in place under President O'Rahilly's sponsorship persisted so robustly they allowed for change to the point where they departed from his ideological position. The administrative structure of the Adult Education Committee, Adult Education Department, and outreach personnel and the outreach and cooperative ethos allowed identification of new needs and more inclusive mechanisms for program development and delivery. Most significant was modification in content of diploma courses to where they were no longer synonymous with Roman Catholic social thinking. Modernization, evident in Irish society from the 1960s, was a potent force for change in university adult education. Challenges to prevailing socio-religious doxa was reflected in new program provision and learning opportunities for adults. The nexus between Catholic Church influence and adult education personnel and programs was reduced considerably as secularist and competing themes and interests were accommodated in a broader model of provision. The 1990s witnessed significant developments in partnership and empowerment as UCC considered its role, structures, and processes in effecting change in delivery and experience of adult education designed to facilitate and promote social inclusion. (Contains 18 references.) (YLB)