Biography
I lecture on the MA History of Family in the Department of History. I am Chair of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas Digital Working Group, and a member of the National Library of Ireland's Genealogy and Heraldry committee.Along with colleagues Dr Ciara Breathnach and Prof. Tiziana Margaria I was a recipient of the University of Limerick Team Teaching Award 2023, and the AHSS Team Teaching Award 2023. I hold a Grad. Dip. Teaching, Learning and Scholarship from the University of Limerick (2020).
I hold a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and an MA in History of Family from the University of Limerick. I completed a PhD in History and Digital Humanities at University College Cork (UCC) in 2017. During this time I also completed a Higher Diploma in Geographical Information Systems.
Following my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the interdisciplinary project Deep Maps:West Cork Coastal Cultures project led by Prof Clare Connolly (UCC). From August 2020 to August 2023 I was postdoctoral researcher on Death and Burial Data: Ireland 1864-1922 project led by Dr Ciara Breathnach. Both projects were funded by the Irish Research Council.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship from the University of Limerick.
Academic Grants and Awards
- Awarded a Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023 grant with co-investigator, Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) for Placing our heritage: creating a digital atlas of the city of Cork'.
- Awarded funding from National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Enhanced Engagement with Special Collections and Archives, with Kirsten Mulrennan, University of Limerick Special Collections (2020).
- Awarded Heritage Council funding to create a Digital Atlas of Fethard with Fethard Historical Society (2018).
- Awarded a 4-year funded PhD studentship (PRTLI 5 2011-2015).
Research Interests
As well as the history of family, a key focus of my research is the history of landholding in Ireland during the early modern and modern periods. This includes the history of the landed estate (landed elites, servants, agents, tenant farmers, the roles of women, agricultural labourers and vagrants). Other areas that interest me include local history, urban history and environmental history.I frequently use digital tools and technologies to facilitate and present research. Areas such as spatial humanities and digital history are of interest to me, in particular the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). As demonstrated by some of the projects I have worked on, I enjoy taking an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to research, as well as conducting individual research.
Academic Grants and Awards
Awarded a Heritage Council Stewardship Fund 2023 grant with co-investigator, Sarah Gearty (Irish Historic Towns Atlas project) for Placing our heritage: creating a digital atlas of the city of Cork'.
Awarded funding from National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Enhanced Engagement with Special Collections and Archives, with Kirsten Mulrennan, University of Limerick Special Collections (2020).·
Awarded Heritage Council funding to create a Digital Atlas of Fethard with Fethard Historical Society (2018).
4-year funded PhD studentship (PRTLI 5 2011-2015).
Professional Activities
Education
- 2017 University College Cork - PhD
- 2008 University of Limerick - MA
- 1992 University of Oxford - BA
Association
- Member, British Agricultural History Society
- Member, Economic and Social History Society of Ireland
- Member, Geographical Society of Ireland
- Member, Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement
- Member, Irish Association for Professional Historians
- Member, Irish Modern Urban History Group
- Member, Local Population Studies Society
- Member, Social History Society
- Member, The Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland