Biography
I am a cultural historian, and Director of the MA Public History & Cultural Heritage programme at the University of Limerick, Ireland.I research and publish on cultural and social histories of Irish music, country houses and landed estates, c.1750-c.1950, cultural nationalism and politics pre- and post-Irish independence, and heritage interpretation and historical practices in the public realm.
I teach on topics related to my research at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with modules on class, gender and culture at the country house in Ireland, long nineteenth-century Irish history, public history theory and practice, and digital public history culture and communications.
I am an experienced research supervisor and welcome all enquiries from potential undergraduate, MA and PhD students, as well as postdoctoral colleagues, interested in working on these topics.
Research Interests
My research interests lie in the cultural and social history of Irish music in the long nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on processes of individual and collective cultural identity formation in country houses, landed elites, gender, education, recreation, and nation building, as well as contemporary public history narratives and practices.Funding and collaborations
My work on the social life and musical cultures of country houses and landed estates in Ireland has been funded by the Office of Public Works, Irish Research Council (Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellowship; New Foundations Networking Grant), the Royal Irish Academy (Charlemont Award), and the AHSS Faculty at the University of Limerick.
I am a Research Associate at the Research Foundation for Music in Ireland, Conservatory of Music and Drama, Technological University (TU) Dublin, Member of the European Network for Country House and Estate Research (ENCOUNTER), and Member of the international Sound Heritage network leading the Irish Research Council-funded Sound Heritage Ireland project an inter-sectoral forum for communication and collaboration on issues concerning the sounding' of historic properties with a particular focus on music in country houses.
Public history
As well as contributions to local and national radio and television programmes, my work includes public history and heritage interpretation projects with the Office of Public Works including a travelling exhibition on pioneering Victorian Irish photographer W.D. Hemphill, and the Bryce House restoration project at Garinish Island in Co. Cork, specifically its reinterpretation as a historic house museum.
Professional Activities
Award
- 2021 - National Forum Teaching Hero
- 2016 - Irish Research Council New Foundations Grant Awardee
- 2015 - Royal Irish Academy Charlemont Research Scholar
- 2010 - Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Association
- Member, International Federation for Public History (IFPH)
- Member, Irish Museums Association
- Member, Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland (SSNCI)
Research Collaborators
- E A E R N: Eighteenth-century Arts Education Research Network - International Collaboration Type - University of Glasgow -Scotland
- Sound Heritage - International Collaboration Type - University of Southampton -England
- European Network of Public History Master Programmes - International Collaboration Type - University of Luxembourg -Luxembourg -Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH)