Centre for Irish Studies, University of Galway

12/06/2026

PhD Celebrations at the Centre for Irish Studies! Summer Graduations 2026

Comhghairdeas ó chroí lenár scoláirí dochtúireachta iontacha a bronnadh a gcéimeanna PhD orthu san Ollscoil na Gaillimhe um thráthnóna inné.

Dr Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha was awarded her PhD (sa Nua-Ghaeilge) for her research on the life and work of Biddy Jenkinson’s poetry, co-supervised by an tOllamh Rióna Ní Fhrighil agus an tOllamh Louis de Paor. Dr Gabrielle Machnik-Kekesi was awarded her PhD (in Irish Studies) on the representation and function of food in mid-century bildungsromane by Irish women authors, supervised by Dr Nessa Cronin. And Dr John Brady was awarded his PhD (in Irish Studies) for his critical re-evaluation of the role of the Irish town in twentieth-century Irish fiction, supervised by an tOllamh Louis de Paor.

A special honorary mention also needs to be made to acknowledge the doctoral research of Dr Mary Harney, who at 77 years young was awarded her PhD (in Human Rights) yesterday, supervised by Dr Maeve O’Rourke. Mary first came to Galway to undertake her MA in Irish Studies, working closely with Louis and Nessa throughout the year, with her MA thesis supervised by Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley. Mary went on to expand her research impact distinction in the years that followed and there was an especial round of applause at the Bailey Allen Hall yesterday recognising her exceptional work as a human rights defender and 'resister-in-chief' in relation to the legacy of Mother and Baby institutions in Ireland https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41861214.html Comhghairdeas ó chroí Mary, tá muid go léir san Ionad fíor-bhródúil as do chuid shaol agus d'obair, agus bhí an-onóir inné fíor-tuilte agat.

And so, another afternoon of Irish Studies’ joy was shared with family, partners, friends, colleagues and all at the Centre for Irish Studies in Galway, as can be seen in the photos here! And a final note of thanks to the past and current PhD scholars and others who kindly and quietly did the clean up for us in the Seminar Room afterwards... míle buíochas arís a chairde go léir.

21/05/2026

'Beating Time, The Story of the Irish Bodhrán', Fintan Vallely's latest publication, will be launched by Toner Quinn at Charlie Byrnes today. See detail below!

30/04/2026

Visiting ILC scholar, Professor Kevin Dunn will launch his latest book, Inflammable Material (Bloomsbury, 2025) on Friday, 1 May, 6pm at Charlie Byrnes with Dr Michael Lydon chairing the event. All are welcome!

23/04/2026

23/04/2026

Lásadóireacht i nGaillimh / Lacemaking in Galway – skills and stories

Please see below the schedule for this exciting new pop-up festival, Lásadóireacht i nGaillimh / Lacemaking in Galway – skills and stories, curated by our very own Dr Molly-Claire Gillett this April. What was initially envisaged as one small workshop has certainly grown to be Galway's newest festival offering!

Kindly supported by the Centre for Irish Studies and the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway, Galway City Museum, Galway City Centre Library and Galway City Partnership, this festival brings lace-making skills and stories from Ireland and beyond to a wide public across Galway city and county.
Early booking is advised as many of the workshops are now fully subscribed. Further details are available here: https://galwaycitymuseum.ie/blog/pop-up-festival-lasadoireacht-i-ngaillimh-lacemaking-in-galway-skills-and-stories/

For further information on the festival and the Irish-Canadian postdoctoral research project associated with these events please contact:

Dr Molly-Claire Gillett, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Irish Studies, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway and Centre for Aging and Society, Trent University, Canada, [email protected]

Dr Nessa Cronin, Centre for Irish Studies, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway, [email protected]

Pop-Up Festival

23/04/2026

The Centre for Irish Studies is delighted to have Visiting Professor Kevin Dunn (Hobart & William Smith Colleges, New York, US) back with us again this semester for the launch of his new book on the Belfast punk scene, entitled Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material (Bloomsbury, 2026).

Join Kevin in conversation with Dr Michael Lydon (University of Galway) at Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, 6pm Friday 1 May.

21/04/2026

https://www.universityofgalway.ie/colleges-and-schools/arts-social-sciences-and-celtic-studies/research/researchfunding/

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21/04/2026

A very special exhibition by the late Paul Dunne, is currently running in the University Gallery in the Quad until 25th April (Tues 12-6pm | Thurs 4-8pm | Sat & Sun 12-6pm).

This exhibition reflects the evolution of Paul’s art and his enduring engagement with form, colour, and expression. A testament to his courage and creativity, Paul continued to paint as he faced life with early age onset Alzheimer’s. This exhibition is presented by Paul’s wife, Prof. Maureen Kelly (School of Medicine, University of Galway), and the Dunne family with optional donations going towards Western Alzheimer’s and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland:

23/03/2026

Lásadóireacht i nGaillimh / Lacemaking in Galway: skills and stories, April 28 – May 2, 2026.

Please see the details attached above in relation to Galway's latest festival! Organised and curated by our very own Dr Molly-Claire Gillett, Lásadóireacht i nGaillimh / Lacemaking in Galway: skills and stories, is a pop-up festival which will take place in various city and campus venues from April 28 – May 2, 2026.

Dr Molly-Claire Gillett is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow (2024-2026), working with Dr Nessa Cronin at the Centre for Irish Studies, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway, and Professor Mark Skinner at the Centre for Aging and Society, Trent University, Canada.

Further information will be forthcoming, but for now, please note all the talks, seminars, workshops for your post-Easter diaries!

05/03/2026

Irish Studies Seminar Series 4pm, Thursday 12 March 2026

'Doing Irish Microhistory, c. 1690–1960: Brian Friel and His Mother's People'

Professor Breandán Mac Suibhne, Discipline of History,
School of History and Philosophy, University of Galway.

We are delighted to have Professor Breandán Mac Suibhne (School of History and Philosophy, University of Galway) with us for our seminar this March as part of the Irish Studies Seminar Series this semester.

Breandán's seminar, 'Doing Irish Microhistory, c. 1690–1960: Brian Friel and His Mother's People'will take place at 4pm, Thursday 12 March. The seminar will take place as a hybrid event in the Seminar Room, Centre for Irish Studies, 4 Distillery Road.
For those of you unable to join us in person, you would be most welcome to join us in the Centre for Irish Studies' zoom room via the following link:
https://universityofgalway-ie.zoom.us/j/92968827156

This seminar will engage anyone interested in the formation of the playwright Brian Friel. Its prime concern primarily is to provide an interdisciplinary discussion on sources and methods with early career scholars and other researchers in Irish Studies more broadly considering projects focused on individuals and small communities in the distant past.

Professor Breandán Mac Suibhne is a historian at the University of Galway. Among his publications is The End of Outrage (Oxford, 2017), which explores sordid happenings in a small community in the 'time of the Famine'. He is editor, with David Dickson, of Hugh Dorian's The Outer Edge of Ulster (Dublin, 2000; South Bend, IN, 2001), the most extensive lower-class account of the Famine, and, with Enda Delaney, he edited Ireland's Great Famine and Popular Politics(2003). Recent publications include, with Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Ag Cur Chun Fónaimh (An Spidéal, 2023), a collection of essays on the work of the development agency Údarás na Gaeltachta. Mac Suibhne is a member of an international team that has completed an annotated multi-volume edition of the correspondence (1798–1846) of the Moore family of Derry and Baltimore, Maryland, for publication by the Irish Manuscript Commission in 2026–27. He is currently finishing a monograph that uses the lives of the actual people on whom characters in Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) are, more or less, based to probe a set of issues in social and cultural history.

Tá muid ag súil go mór chun fáilte a thabhairt ar Bhreandán chun teacht linn san Ionad arís. Beidh tae agus caifé le fáil (tabhair do chupáin choinnigh libh!), agus an-fáilte roimh chách chun a bheith inár dteannta ag an ócáid seo